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WASHINGTON — Fitchburg-based Promega Corp. was handed a defeat Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of a California firm in a patent infringement case that limits the international reach of U.S. patent laws.

The justices ruled unanimously that a shipment by Life Technologies Corp. of a single part of a patented invention for assembly in another country did not violate patent laws.

Life Technologies supplied an enzyme used in DNA analysis kits to a plant in London and combined it with several other components to make kits sold worldwide. Promega sued, arguing that the kits infringed a U.S. patent.

A jury awarded $52 million in damages to Promega, but U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb set aside the verdict, saying the law did not cover export of a single component.

The federal appeals panel specializing in patent cases reversed and reinstated the verdict, though not the damages. Instead, it ordered a new trial. Crabb stayed the case while the Supreme Court decided whether it would take the matter.