A Medical Device Daily

Palomar Medical Technologies (Burlington, Massachusetts), a maker of light-based systems for cosmetic treatments, said that the Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed the validity of all claims in the re-examination of U.S. Patent No. 5,595,568 (the '568 patent), titled "Permanent Hair Removal Using Optical Pulses."

Rejecting Candela's (Wayland, Massachusetts) and another company's arguments to the contrary, the PTO confirmed that claims 1-10, 13, 14, 18, and 19 of the '568 patent are valid and patentable. As part of the re-examination process, Palomar added 2 new claims (23-24) to the '568 patent, and the Patent Office also confirmed these new claims as valid and patentable. Claims 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 were not under re-examination. Consequently, all claims of the '568 patent are valid.

Palomar is suing Syneron (Irvine, California) for willful infringement of the '568 patent and both Candela and Syneron for willful infringement of the U.S. Patent No. 5,735,844 (the '844 patent) in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. In June, Palomar reported the successful conclusion of the re-examination of the '844 patent. On November 17, 2008, the lawsuit against Candela was stayed by the court pending the outcome of the re-examinations of both the '568 and '844 patents. In Palomar's patent infringement lawsuit against Syneron, the parties mutually agreed to a stay of that suit pending the re-examinations of both the '568 and '844 patents. Palomar has requested that the court re-start its lawsuit against Candela and will now also request the court re-start its lawsuit against Syneron.

This light-based hair removal patent family has already been licensed to ten competitors and is also the subject of a patent infringement lawsuit against Tria Beauty (Pleasanton, California).

Joseph Caruso, CEO of Palomar, said, "We are again very pleased with this result from the U.S. Patent Office. This patent family is strong as is evidenced by the number of our current licensees; as well as the fact that companies are now coming to us for licenses