Copenhagen, May 4, 2020 – 3Shape today announced that the company has received a favorable Notice of Initial Determination regarding the 3Shape TRIOS scanner. The Notice of Initial Determination was issued by Administrative Law Judge MaryJoan McNamara of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) following the ITC’s investigation of the complaint, filed by Align Technology, Inc. against 3Shape in December 2018, which is the third ITC case filed by Align against 3Shape.
On April 30, 2020 Judge McNamara found that 3Shape did not commit any unfair acts in connection with the 3Shape TRIOS scanner as asserted by Align, ruling that there was no violation of the patents asserted against the TRIOS scanner. Thus, 3Shape will continue to sell, supply and service 3Shape TRIOS scanners in the USA.
“We are pleased that Judge McNamara rejects Align’s claim that the TRIOS scanner infringes any valid Align patents, like Judge Lord and Judge Cheney did in the two previous ITC cases launched by Align. Further, Judge McNamara found that one of the patents asserted by Align against TRIOS application software was invalid. This is a victory for innovation and the many dental professionals who every day apply innovative dental solutions to provide better dental care for their patients. We are confident that the ITC will follow Judge McNamara’s Initial Determination regarding the TRIOS scanner and its application software at issue,” says Tais Clausen, Co-CEO and Co-founder of 3Shape.
In her ruling, Judge McNamara reached an Initial Determination that certain claims of two other patents asserted against certain 3D model alignment methods when comparing a scan to a Virtual Ortho setup, as well as certain specific methods to align two 3D models in 3Shape’s Compare Model Sets ortho software module were infringed. 3Shape will seek the ITC’s review of this holding.
Innovation is the driving force behind 3Shape. 3Shape has always had the utmost respect for patents and intellectual property. We continue to create groundbreaking technology to advance dental care. That ability has made 3Shape a leader, which is supported by our more than 80 patent families and numerous industry awards.
3Shape will continue to do what we have always done: Work with companies (including competitors) to create exciting and innovative solutions that benefit labs and dentists and improve patient care.