-Gamagori, JAPAN (Market Wire) March 31st, 2004-
NIDEK Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in excimer laser systems for vision correction, is pleased to announce that on March 26, 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court decision that NIDEK did not infringe two patents owned by Summit Technologies, Inc. (now ALCON Laboratories).
Following a two week trial in September 2002 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which initially resulted in a jury verdict in favor of Summit and a damage award of $17.2 million, U.S. District Judge Edward F. Harrington granted NIDEK's motion for judgment as a matter of law, overturning the jury verdict as legally insufficient on a number of grounds. In his ruling of December 19, 2002, Judge Harrington found that no reasonable jury, having considered all of the evidence in the light most favorable to Summit, could have found that NIDEK's EC-5000 laser system-infringed Summit's U.S. Patent Nos. 4,941,093 and 4,973,330. Summit / ALCON then appealed this ruling to the higher Court of Appeals - Federal Circuit Court.
In a detailed opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment as a matter of law in favor of NIDEK stating, "the district court, in a careful and comprehensive analysis, correctly found that Summit failed to present more than a mere scintilla of evidence to support the jury's verdict that NIDEK infringed any of the asserted claims..."
Commenting on the result of the appeal, NIDEK's president and founder, Mr. Hideo Ozawa stated, "We are extremely pleased and grateful with this final decision from the court of appeal. This favorable result brings a successful ending to a series of lawsuits brought against NIDEK dealing with excimer laser technology. NIDEK firmly believed that its technology did not infringe patents of others and this decision further substantiates that conclusion. The willingness of NIDEK to defend its technology and loyal customers stems from that conviction. NIDEK has never been found to infringe any excimer laser patent to date. It is now time for NIDEK and the industry to concentrate on bringing to the market new and improved products and place all of this litigation behind us."
Contact:
Mr. Kan Ohtsuki
Title: Senior Manager, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Division
Phone: +81 533 67-8828
Fax: +81 533 67-6628
Email: kan_ohtsuki@nidek.co.jp
Mr. Mitsutoshi Amano
Title: Manager, Corporate Planning
Phone: +81-533-67-6753
Fax: +81-533-67-6610
Email: mitsutoshi_amano@nidek.co.jp
