Press

Düsseldorf, Germany / Leuven, Belgium, 14th August 2007
The District Court of Düsseldorf ruled on 14th August 2007 that Nobel Biocare is infringing a Materialise patent, by unauthorized using a method for producing guides for dental implant surgery. The decision could be appealed. However, Materialise Dental, a world leader in Computer Guided Implantology, may decide to provisionally enforce this judgment which would stop Nobel Biocare from offering its “NobelGuide” drilling templates in their current form in Germany.

Bart Swaelens, CEO of Materialise Dental, commented: “I am very glad that the Court agreed that Nobel Biocare is infringing our patent. We have been promoting Computer Guided Implantology for many years and our products, based on extensive Research & Development, have contributed to the success of implant dentistry. We now also want to benefit from the protection of our technology. Our own “SimPlant” software was introduced into the market already in 1993 and we commercially launched our “SurgiGuide” drill guides in 1999, i.e. six years before the introduction of NobelGuide by Nobel Biocare in 2005.”
Mr. Swaelens continues: “This judgment supports our market position as the provider of an open and complete system, compatible with all implant brands “.

Last year, Materialise filed a patent infringement action at the Düsseldorf District Court (Germany). The patent was exclusively licensed to Materialise Dental effective January 1, 2006 who joined the action on November 23, 2006. Materialise alleged that Nobel Biocare uses a method for making dental drill guides that infringes a Materialise European Patent. The respective drill guides are acknowledged as a very promising improvement for implant treatment. Materialise sued Nobel Biocare for infringement of the method which is protected by Claim 1 of European Patent (EP) 0 756 735. The District Court of Düsseldorf granted an injunction against Nobel Biocare as well as a claim for information and rendering accounts and a declaratory judgment for damages.

Should Materialise Dental decide to provisionally enforce the judgment that could be subject to an appeal, Nobel Biocare will be enjoined from selling dental drill guides in Germany, which are produced according to the aforementioned method.

Only 4 days before the main hearing on July 24, 2007, Nobel Biocare filed a request to stay the infringement action, on the basis of a nullity action filed by Nobel Biocare against the German part of the European patent. The Düsseldorf Court decided, however, not to stay the infringement action on the basis of the nullity action, which was filed shortly before the hearing.

“SimPlant” and “SurgiGuide” are registered trademarks of Materialise Dental N.V. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their owner.