Press

The Central District Court in Santa Ana, California, has ruled that Nobel Biocare’s NobelGuide system does not infringe claim 1 of Materialise's '134 patent. This verdict is only one element in the ongoing litigation between both companies. As Materialise Dental believes this decision is in error and remains confident of its patent position, it will appeal this decision to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court.

“While we can’t understand this unfavorable ruling, we remain confident that NobelGuide infringes our patents, and that the court of appeal will confirm this.” says Bart Swaelens, CEO of Materialise Dental, a world leader in computer guided implantology.

Materialise filed a patent infringement action against Nobel Biocare in Düsseldorf, Germany in July 2006. Materialise alleges that Nobel Biocare’s NobelGuide solution infringes Materialise’s European patent, (EP) 0 756 735, which is exclusively licensed to Materialise Dental.

In August 2007, the District Court (Landgericht) of Düsseldorf ruled that NobelGuide infringes Materialise’s European Patent in Germany. Nobel Biocare has appealed this decision at the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Düsseldorf.

On December 18 2008, the Higher Regional Court held its oral hearing in appeal. During this hearing the court expressed its preliminary opinion on the case and indicated that it was following Materialise’s arguments that the NobelGuide system infringes Materialise’s patent. The Court will officially announce its decision on April 23, 2009.

In June 2007, Nobel Biocare filed a claim with the German Patent Court challenging the validity of Materialise’s patent. The German Federal Patent Court has scheduled an oral hearing in this case for April 16, 2009.

In August 2007, Nobel Biocare USA LLC filed a lawsuit with the US Federal Court in Santa Ana (California), to obtain a declaratory judgment that Nobel Biocare is not infringing Materialise’s counterpart U.S. patent by offering NobelGuide solutions in the US.

On 17 March 2009, the Central District Court of California issued an order granting Nobel Biocare’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement. As Materialise believes this decision is in error and remains confident of its patent position, it will appeal this decision to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court.