Carl Zeiss Meditec (ETR:AFX) last week claimed a win in an intraocular lens patent spat with VSY Biotechnology and its distribution partner Fritz Ruck Ophthalmologische Systeme.
The case relates to patents for special aphakic intraocular lenses, trifocal lenses designed to reduce the impact of pupil shrinkage and lens eccentricity, Carl Zeiss Meditec said.
The District Court of Düsseldorf ordered VSY and Fritz Ruck to recall all of the trifocal lenses they have on the market and destroy any lenses in their possession, according to a Carl Zeiss press release.
VSY Biotechnology responded by saying that it planned to appeal the ruling, and that the ruling only affected Germany. The company is also seeking to invalidate certain European patents belonging to Carl Zeiss in a separate action, according to a press release.
Last September, the FDA granted premarket approval to Carl Zeiss Meditec for its VisuMax femtosecond laser, with indications for small incision lenticule extraction procedures to reduce or eliminate nearsightedness in patients 22 or older.
The newly cleared laser is designed to incise the cornea to create a disc-shaped piece of tissue that’s surgically removed to shape the cornea and correct nearsightedness, according to the FDA.
