Caliper Life Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:CALP) sued Carestream Health Inc., accusing the Rochester, N.Y.-based company of violating a suite of seven diagnostics imaging patents Caliper licenses from Stanford University.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas, alleges that Carestream’s In-Vivo Molecular Imaging Solutions and Image Station Molecular Imaging Solutions lines, including a series of Kodak-brand devices Carestream acquired from Eastman Kodak Co. in 2007, infringes the patents covering Caliper subsidiary Xenogen Corp.’s IVIS imaging system. The IVIS devices are used for preclinical non-invasive imaging of mammals covered by the Caliper patents.
Caliper warned Eastman Kodak in 2006 of the infringement of at least four of the patents, according to court documents, a warning that was transmitted to Carestream’s corporate parent, Onex Corp. (TSX: OCX), as part of the Kodak acquisition. In August last year, Caliper fired off another warning letter to Carestream, which prompted a string of phone calls and emails between the companies discussing the alleged infringement.
“Following that August 2009 letter, Caliper and Carestream engaged in discussions by e-mail and telephone regarding Caliper’s concerns, but Carestream continued to avoid acknowledging the wrongful nature of its sales and marketing activities for the Carestream Devices,” according to the lawsuit.
The complaint also accuses Carestream of deliberately marketing its devices “in a manner that intends to induce infringement of the Caliper Patents.” The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and the court’s judgment of infringement, a permanent injunction barring Carestream from further infringement, compensatory damages, triple damages for willful infringement and legal fees.