Dec 25 2014
The International Trade Commission (ITC) issued its final decision in the case brought by ResMed (RMD) against BMC Medical. In a notice issued on December 23, the ITC ruled in favor of BMC and found that ResMed's patent on its humidifier was invalid.
BMC President, James Xu called the decision a "monumental win". "We are very excited with the ITC's decision in this case. This victory for us supports the position that we have taken since the very beginning on the key patents in the case. ResMed chose a very expensive high-profile battle, when this dispute could have easily been resolved with direct discussions between the parties."
The ITC's decision is the latest in a lengthy 18 month battle that has spanned across the globe and spawned litigation not only in the U.S., but also in Germany and China. In this October, the Munich court has removed the preliminary injunction based on EP1210139B1 patent served to BMC concerning the CPAP devices, and ResMed should compensate BMC's damages including the legal fees. In China, BMC has initiated seven nullity actions for ResMed's patents, and four of them are totally invalid and the other three are being reviewed by the SIPO.
The ITC decision also sides in ResMed's favor on some of the mask patents, but the disputed masks account for far less than 10 percent of BMC's U.S. sales. And BMC stops the disputed masks earlier this year, and the redesigned masks have already been released onto the U.S. market.