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4 May 2021MedtechAlex Baldwin

Conformis launches implant lawsuit against J&J subsidiary

US medtech company Conformis has filed a lawsuit against J&J Medical Devices-owned DePuy Synthes, alleging that it infringed on its custom implant and surgery software patents.

Conformis’ custom-fitted implant technology ‘iFit’ allows surgeons to customise shoulder and knee implants to each individual patient using patent-protected surgical tools to “reduce surgical time and trauma”.

The technology is protected by seven patents covering both the technology and surgery: US patent numbers 8,460,304, 9,295,482, 8,623,026, 9,326,780, 9,186,161, 8,377,129, and 8,083,745.

All patents were issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) between 2011 and 2016.

Conformis claims that DePuy’s ‘Trumatch’ line of patient-specific surgical systems and its proprietary software infringed Conformis’ patents in a complaint filed on Friday to the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

The company is seeking cash compensation and a court order to block further unauthorised usage of the patent-infringing technology.

“Conformis has developed significant intellectual property associated with its iFit technology, its patient-specific implants,” the complaint says.

“DePuy has caused, and unless restrained and enjoined, will continue to cause, irreparable injury and damage to Conformis for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”

John Emerson, Jason Lao and Linfeng Yang of Haynes and Boone are representing Conformis in the lawsuit.

This is not the first case of patent infringement faced by DePuy. In 2018, a Wisconsin jury concluded that the J&J-owned company should pay $8.2 million for willfully infringing on an orthopaedic implant patent.

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More on this story

Medtech
24 August 2021   The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has invalidated more claims of a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary’s surgical robot patent following a cross-appeal of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision.
Americas
27 May 2021   Philips has settled trade secrets and copyright claims against a medical imaging company, having already survived accusations of breaching antitrust law.
Americas
24 September 2020   Danish biotech Genmab has commenced binding arbitration of two matters with Janssen Biotech, a Johnson & Johnson company, over royalty payments for a cancer drug.