Eye care company settles with J&J Surgical Vision for $199m
J&J had accused defendant of infringing patents related to cataract surgery | Company also complained its copyright-protected computer programs had been ripped off, alleging “piracy of a nearly unfathomable scale”.
Alcon has announced the settlement of its dispute with J&J Surgical Vision.
The settlement, announced yesterday, 12 February, will resolve pending legal proceedings over femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery devices, including Alcon’s LenSx device.
As part of the settlement, the parties have exchanged cross-licences of certain IP and other mutually agreed covenants and releases. Eye care company Alcon will make a one-time payment of $199 million for those rights and to resolve various worldwide IP disputes relating to this matter.
In 2020, J&J accused Alcon of infringing multiple patents related to cataract surgery through the use and sale of Alcon’s LenSx device, which Alcon had acquired as part of its purchase of LenSx Lasers in 2010.
Additionally, J&J accused Alcon of infringing copyright-protected computer programs for J&J’s iFS Laser systems. J&J also accused Alcon of trade secrets theft, alleging that it had perpetrated “piracy of a nearly unfathomable scale” in ripping off a computer code.
Alcon, in response, alleged infringement of several patents by J&J’s Catalys system.
In November 2021, the patent section of the suit was paused while the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) conducted validity reviews on 17 of the patents at issue. Last month, the parties told the court that the PTAB had issued its final written decisions.
The copyright portion of the case was set to proceed to trial this week but was cancelled on 10 February.
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