3Shape has won a patent infringement lawsuit filed in Germany against Medit Corp, a Korea-based 3D dental scanner company. The German District Court of Dusseldorf ruled that Medit’s i500 intraoral scanner violates 3Shape’s European Patent no 2 568 870 B1 on its hole-closing technology.
The German court’s ruling says that marketing, sales, and commercial use of the Medit i500 intraoral scanner in its current version is illegal in Germany.
“We invest heavily in our innovative technologies and over a third of our employees work in R&D functions. 3Shape’s scanning technologies are unique and fundamental to the TRIOS scanner’s high ratings among doctors. Therefore, we cannot allow competitors to copy our hard-earned technology breakthroughs or infringe our patents,” says Tais Clausen, 3Shape co-founder and co-CEO.
In addition to Germany, the same European Patent no. 2 568 870 B1 has also been issued in Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain.