Sleep and oxygen equipment maker, ResMed, and rival manufacturer, 3B Products/BMC Medical, have reached a five-year agreement resolving all outstanding litigation between the companies.
The settlement ends an intellectual property war between the companies, which has spanned more than three years and seen multiple battles with wins and losses on both sides. Under the agreement, Chinese medical device manufacturer, BMC Medical, and its U.S. sales subsidiary, 3B Products, will be allowed to sell their existing products, but they must make royalty payments to ResMed. Meanwhile, ResMed is required to make a one-time settlement payment to 3B to resolve litigation in Florida.
The agreement does not include any admission of liability or wrongdoing by any of the companies.
Litigation resolved by the settlement includes:
- Pending litigation before the U.S. International Trade Commission;
- Lawsuits pending in district court in Florida and California;
- Foreign litigation in China and Germany; and
- Validity challenges pending in various patent offices around the world.
Spokespeople for all three companies issued public statements indicating how pleased they are to have resolved their legal issues. David Pendarvis, global general counsel for ResMed, pointed out that the settlement “allows us to avoid the distraction and ongoing expense of continued litigation.”
Pendarvis and James Xu, general manager of BMC Medical, both stated that their respective companies plan to focus their energy on developing new products for patients with sleep-related respiratory conditions.
