Ivoclar Vivadent and 3M have settled their respective patent lawsuits in Germany and the U.S. involving polymer-based restoratives materials.
Ivoclar alleged that the 3M Filtek composite dental restoratives infringed its patents. Ivoclar voluntarily withdrew its German and U.S. patent-infringement suits against 3M, prompting the settlement. These actions settle a six-month lawsuit between the parties.
The legal dispute involved U.S. patent No. 5,936,006, Filled and Polymerizable Dental Material, which was issued to Ivoclar in 1999.
In November 2011, the companies signed a confidential disclosure agreement, which included an agreement not to sue, while trying to sort out patent claims.
But on November 30, 3M filed a lawsuit against Ivoclar in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota stating Ivoclar has engaged in a series of acts that "create a real, concrete dispute between the parties and constitute a clear threat that Ivoclar AG and Ivoclar Inc. will sue 3M for infringement of the '006 patent."
On December 1, Ivoclar did just that, filing a patent-infringement lawsuit against 3M in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The patent in question is U.S. patent No. 5,936,006, Filled and Polymerizable Dental Material, which was issued to Ivoclar in August 1999.
Ivoclar also moved to dismiss 3M's case by claiming that 3M's lawsuit was barred by the confidential disclosure agreement, but on April 26 of this year U.S. District Court Judge Ann Montgomery refused to grant the dismissal. She also dismissed without prejudice claims that 3M filed against Ivoclar's North American subsidiary.
