A Medical Device Daily

Candela (Wayland, Massachusetts) reported that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division, denied the motion of Palomar Medical Technologies (Burlington, Massachusetts) to transfer Candela's lawsuit against Palomar from the Lufkin court to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

On Dec. 19, 2006, Candela filed an infringement complaint against Palomar in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division, asserting that Palomar's 1540 Fractional and Lux Y handpieces willfully infringe upon one or more of its U.S. patents: 5,810,801, 6,659,999 and 6,120,497.

Gerard Puorro, Candela's president/CEO, said, "The court's decision is an important one for Candela since we believe that it will lead to a speedier trial than if the case had been transferred, and it affords us the opportunity to continue to seek, in the forum we chose, our desired remedies of compensatory and treble damages payable by Palomar due to its willful infringement and, most importantly, an injunction against Palomar's sale of all infringing handpieces.

The companies compete in the medical and aesthetic laser markets.