A Medical Device Daily

Palomar Medical Technologies (Burlington, Massachusetts) reported the resolution of its patent infringement and trade dress infringement lawsuit against Alma Lasers (Caesaria, Israel).

Palomar accused Alma's Harmony, Soprano, Soprano XL and Sonata systems of infringing U.S. Patent Nos. 5,735,844 and 5,595,568. Palomar said it has an exclusive license to these patents from General Hospital (Boston).

Palomar also accused Alma's Harmony system of infringing the trade dress of Palomar's StarLux system. Alma has admitted to the infringement, validity and enforceability of the patents and has agreed not to challenge them in the future. Alma also has agreed to change the trade dress of the Harmony and Aria systems within six to nine months.

Alma will pay Palomar a 9.5% patent royalty plus interest on prior sales of their laser- and lamp-based hair removal systems beginning with initial sales in 2003, and a 1.5% trade dress fee plus interest on prior sales of their Harmony and Aria systems. It said the amounts will be determined by an independent auditor over the next few months, and Palomar will recognize those amounts after they are determined as part of that audit.

Alma will also pay Palomar for its legal costs incurred during the lawsuit. From Mar. 28, 2007 through Dec. 31, 2007, Alma will pay Palomar an 8.5% patent royalty and, beginning on Jan. 1, 2008, will pay Palomar a 7.5% patent royalty on future sales of current and any new light-based hair removal systems. The terms are in accordance with Palomar's standard license terms including combination systems that include multiple light sources for hair removal and other applications.

Under its license agreement with General Hospital, Palomar will pay to the General Hospital Corp. 40% of all payments from Alma excluding Palomar's legal costs and the trade dress fees.

"The resolution of this lawsuit against Alma as well as the resolution last spring of the lawsuits against Cutera [Brisbane, California], demonstrates the strength of Palomar's patent portfolio," said Patricia Davis, senior VP and general counsel of Palomar. "As in the past, when forced to litigate, we will seek higher royalties than when competitors take a license on a voluntary basis.

"This favorable resolution with Alma so early in this litigation further substantiates the strength of these patents," said Joseph Caruso, president/CEO of Palomar. "Palomar pioneered the cosmetic light-based industry with the first high-powered light-based hair removal system in 1997. Since then, this industry has become one of the fastest-growing segments in the medical industry with hair removal procedures being the most popular cosmetic light based procedure performed today.

In other patent news: BioMedical Enterprises (BME; San Antonio, Texas), reported receiving allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patent titled, "System and Method for Force, Displacement and Rate Control of Shape Memory Material Implants" covering BME's OSSforce Implant Controller technology.

The OSSforce Implant Controller gives surgeons control over BME's OSStaple and OSSplate devices, both using shape recovery properties of the nickel titanium alloy nitinol as a means of applying dynamic closing force during bone fusion.

BME develops minimally invasive orthopedic instrumentation and implants that elicit a biologic response.