Feb 27 2007
IRIDEX Corporation has announced that the Hon. Catherine Perry, United States District Judge, granted summary judgment to IRIDEX on its claim that Synergetics, Inc.'s adapter-based connector systems infringe 12 separate claims of IRIDEX's Patent No. 5,085,492.
The suit, Case Number 05-CV-1916 CDP, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, was filed on October 19, 2005 and is scheduled for a jury trial on April 16, 2007. At that trial, the jury will be asked to award damages and decide whether Synergetics' infringement was willful, so that damages can be increased.
"We have been confident that the Synergetics product infringed IRIDEX's intellectual property," stated Barry G. Caldwell, president and CEO of IRIDEX. "Synergetics has repeatedly argued that its adapter products were noninfringing, but they have lost that battle today. Due to this ruling, Synergetics will now appear before the jury as an adjudicated infringer. We believe that this ruling means that our requests for triple damages and an injunction are more likely to be granted. The Synergetics announcement last week concerning a new motion is now dead on arrival. Obviously, we are very pleased with this outcome."
In its order, the Court also ruled that Synergetics' new connector system, which Synergetics only introduced after the litigation began, does not infringe. However, IRIDEX expects to prove at trial that this system, which depends on a dangling wire to work on an IRIDEX laser, is a commercial failure.
The Court previously granted summary judgment to IRIDEX on Synergetics' defense on the doctrine of repair. The Court also denied Synergetics' motion for summary judgment on the issues of laches and estoppel. The Court held that the jury may not hear arguments about any of these issues. Two summary judgment motions remain for the Court to decide.