Palomar Medical Technologies Inc. filed the latest in a series of patent infringement lawsuits over its laser hair removal technology, this time against a California-based competitor.

In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the Burlington cosmetic laser device maker accuses Tria Beauty Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif., of violating U.S. Patent No. 5,735,844, “Hair Removal Using Optical Pulse.”

Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office zapped an obstacle to Palomar’s suit against Candela Corp. over its alleged infringement of the patent. The agency upheld the bulk of the claims contained in the patent.

That decision followed a similar decision by the European Patent Office upholding the patent as “novel and inventive” over its competitors’.

After the EU ruling, CFO Paul Weiner told MassDevice that it bolstered Palomar’s claims in other infringement suits, especially ones against Candela and Israel’s Syneron. Weiner did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the Tria case.

In that suit, Palomar is asking the court to “preliminarily and permanently enjoin Tria Beauty” from further infringing the 844 patent, award compensatory damages and then treble them, make Tria pay legal costs for the suit and “such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.”