Nobel Biocare got a mixed ruling on its patent infringement lawsuit against Neodent USA, alleging infringement of two patents relating to the design of Nobel Biocare's NobelActive line of dental implants.
A judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an initial determination on October 27, 2015, that the Drive CM device violates one patent, but he found no violation for the other patent claim. That ruling, however, was not made public until November 24, 2015.
In March 2014, Neodent launched its line of Drive CM dental implants in the U.S. In September 2014, Nobel Biocare filed a patent infringement lawsuit, claiming that the implants, imported from Brazil, have "striking similarities" to the design of its NobelActive implants, which it launched in 2008.
Both U.S. patents cited in the lawsuit relate to technology for aiding the surgical installation and successful integration of the implants in a variety of patient bone types, according to Nobel Biocare.
Nobel filed a complaint in October 2014 with the ITC, seeking an investigation of the importation and sale of the Neodent Drive CM dental implant. Neodent stopped using the design after the ITC began its investigation.
"Nobel Biocare has invested significant resources in research and development to continue the tradition of innovation handed down to us by Professor Per-Ingvar BrĂĄnemark," stated Richard Laube, president of Nobel Biocare, in a press release. "We will not tolerate low-quality copies of Nobel Biocare's products that infringe our intellectual property rights, and we look forward to the ITC's final rulings in this investigation."
