Advanced Medical, Alcon settle patent suit for $121 million

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., July 10 - Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. and Alcon Laboratories, Inc. have reached a settlement resolving all pending patent infringement lawsuits between the companies on technologies used in ophthalmic surgery.

Under the agreement, Alcon will pay Advanced Medical a lump sum of $121 million. The parties agree to dismiss all existing patent litigation and not to sue on the patents at issue, including the use of multiple viscoelastics in one surgical procedure.

In addition, each company is granted a license to the patents covering its existing phacoemulsification equipment features, which allows them to market their current products without the threat of litigation.

The settlement resolves four pending patent lawsuits between the companies, including the December 2003 complaint filed against Alcon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware for infringement of two Advanced Medical phacoemulsification patents for which a judge upheld a May 2005 jury decision of infringement by Alcon. Alcon had subsequently filed an appeal and motion for a new trial in connection with this judgment.

Alcon is an intraocular lens manufacturer located in Huntington, W.Va.

Advanced Medical is a medical-device company located in Santa Ana, Calif.

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