ResMed (NYSE:RMD) said a German court granted preliminary injunctions against a pair of Asian rivals it accuses of patent infringement.
San Diego-based ResMed said the Munich District Court entered preliminary injunctions against Taiwan’s Apex Medical Corp. and China’s BMC Medical Co. "against several patent infringing activities."
ResMed is waging a global war against Apex and BMC, launching patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. and Germany and filing complaints with the International Trade Commission.
The German court’s rulings bar a pair of mask headgear products made by Apex, plus a sleep apnea device and nasal pillow made by BMC, according to a press release. Patent infringement lawsuits are under way in Germany for Apex sleep apnea devices and masks, according to the release.
"ResMed has a global business built on its investment in research and development, resulting in products that excel in performance, quality and comfort," general counsel David Pendarvis said in prepared remarks. "We will continue to defend our investment in intellectual property and pursue all legal remedies to prevent infringement in any country where that infringement exists."
In August, the ITC agreed at ResMed’s request to initiate a probe into BMC’s alleged infringement in the U.S. A ResMed-commissioned ITC investigation of Apex ended last month with a question mark, with each company claiming the ruling as a win.
The ITC ordered a consent decree banning Apex from importing into the U.S. products that infringe on ResMed’s patents, but didn’t name any specific devices. Apex accepted the decree with no admission of wrongdoing or patent infringement, vowing that it would go about business as usual in the wake of the investigation. And Apex countered with an investigation of its own, asking the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to examine 6 ResMed patents on the grounds that it has "substantial invalidity evidence" with which to dispute ResMed’s claims.
