Sleep equipment manufacturer ResMed continues to fight patent battles both at home and abroad with APEX Medical Corp., 3B Medical Inc. and BMC Medical Co. Ltd. (a.k.a., 3B/BMC).
Where APEX is concerned, ResMed announced that it has won a permanent injunction against the Taiwanese medical device manufacturer that prohibits sales of infringing headgear used on APEX WiZARD 210 and 220 masks. The judgment also requires APEX to forfeit its inventory of infringing products, to report on its sales of the infringing products, and to pay damages to ResMed.
That said, the judgment does not cover masks or any other respiratory therapy products made by APEX, and the company has already launched a new headgear design is ready to be offered to the customers.
The judgment was entered by the Regional District Court in Munich, applies throughout Germany, and can be appealed. Not surprisingly, APEX announced it would appeal the decision.
ResMed’s permanent injunction in Germany against APEX continues a preliminary injunction that was entered by the same court on Nov. 12, 2013. The court rejected APEX’s request to stay the injunction and its challenge to the validity of ResMed’s patent.
ResMed has also filed separate patent infringement lawsuits in the same German court seeking damages and permanent injunctions to stop alleged infringement of other ResMed patents. The trials of those cases will occur in fall. The additional accused products are APEX’s iCH and XT Fit CPAP devices, and its WiZARD 210 and WiZARD 220 masks.
Labeling ResMed’s patents as “junk patents” in a public statement, APEX noted it has undertaken patent invalidity challenges against ResMed’s other German and European patents that ResMed asserted in separate proceedings. Also, APEX stated that evidence it submitted has led patent agencies in the United States, Japan, and China to review the validity of several ResMed patents.
Similarly, 3B/BMC announced it was filing an Inter Partes Review (IPR) in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of a ResMed patent. The patent challenged under IPR 2014-01196 focuses on a CPAP humidifier structure.
“This IPR filing is probably the first of many IPR challenges to ResMed’s patent portfolio,” said James Xu, president of BMC.
Since the America Invents Act created the IPR proceeding in September 2012, hundreds of petitions have been filed challenging patents. The PTAB has instituted IPR proceedings in most instances and cancelled a majority of patent claims challenged in these proceedings.
“We will continue to defend our investment in intellectual property and pursue all legal remedies to prevent infringement in any country where that infringement exists,” said David Pendarvis, ResMed’s global general counsel and chief administrative officer.