Jury Delivers Verdict Against Align Technology in Ormco Law

[bbsadmin]

From Orthodontic Products Magazine:

Jury Delivers Verdict Against Align Technology in Ormco Lawsuit

A jury in the US District Court for the Central District of California has delivered a verdict against Align Technology Inc in a lawsuit brought by Ormco Corporation. According to an announcement from Align, Ormco alleged that Align infringed claims of Ormco's patent #6,616,444.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the federal jury found that Align, maker of the Invisalign clear aligner product, violated a patent belonging to Danaher Corp's Ormco unit.

According to the announcement from Align, the company claimed non-infringement, invalidity, and unenforceability of the patent.

“The jury found the claims asserted by Ormco in the 6,616,444 patent to be infringed and valid. ... The jury only determined liability; any monetary damages will be determined in a later trial. The verdict does not currently preclude Align from selling its Invisalign System,â€

[Wireless]

The patent infringement is on 3-D representation of teeth with ability to make orthodontic devices by using Computer Aided Manufacturing techniques. The ruling was on June 26, 2009. It looks like Invisalign is working to have the verdict overturned and will appeal to a higher court. It looks like this could have had some effect on Align's stock, which as around $12 / shr in May-June and is in the $10 to $11 / per share now.

As an Invisalign patient, I'm not too concerned about this for now although I am waiting for new aligners for a mid-course correction. I expect this will be in the courts for quite a while. However, I'm not sure I would rush out and buy Align Tech's stock.

[DrJasonKTam]

For the board's information...

http://markhamortho.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... te-on.html

[Wireless]

Dr. Tam,

Thanks for the detailed info in the link. I hope this doesn't have any impact on Align Tech's support near term. At present, I really have a vested interest as I'm going into week 5 of waiting for new aligners for a mid-course correction.

[DrJasonKTam]

There are hundreds of thousands of people in Invisalign treatment at this current time and it highly unlikely that any court would force the public to discontinue health care mid-course.

The general feeling is that Align will pay out a large amount to Ormco, lawyer fees will be high, but that there will be no true impact on Invisalign patients.

I'll keep everyone posted on any updates.