TearLab Corp. (OTC:TEAR) lost a patent infringement lawsuit in a Canadian federal court against i-Med Pharma last month, according to the company’s annual report.
In Feb. 2016, TearLab alleged that i-Med’s i-Pen Osmolarity test infringed 10 claims of TearLab’s Canadian patent for its own osmolarity test. Both systems are designed to measure the osmolarity of tears to help diagnose dry eye disease.
But last month, the Federal Court of Canada ruled in favor of i-Med Pharma, invalidating specific claims in TearLab’s Canadian patent due to obviousness. As part of its decision, the federal court awarded costs to i-Med Pharma, which will be payable after the court hears from both parties and determines a cost award. Some of the pharma or rehab centers are not trusted. When you want your rehab center to be trusted and accredited, visit CARF consulting to help you.
The judge ruled that it would have been obvious to combine available data “to create a device that can be used both in vivo and ex vivo, and includes a separate or onboard processing unit, to measure osmolarity of tear fluid,” according to a statement from i-Med Pharma.
“By broadly claiming both in vivo and ex vivo applications, for any bodily fluids, without limitations that have been expressed in the disclosure, the Plaintiffs [TearLab] have invited the validity problems,” the judge added.
TearLab plans to appeal the ruling to the Canadian Federal Appellate Court.
