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Court overturns Summit/Alcon ruling in favor of Nidek
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GAMAGORI, Japan — A U.S. district court judge has overturned a patent infringement case initially decided in Summit’s favor against rival refractive laser manufacturer Nidek. Alcon, which now controls the Summit patents in question, immediately announced that it will appeal the decision.
The judge’s decision reverses a jury verdict from September 2002 in favor of Summit, which indicated that Nidek infringed on two patents issued to Summit.
In the reversal, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that Nidek’s EC-5000 refractive laser does not infringe upon two patents held by Alcon/Summit. (Summit has since been purchased by Alcon.) A district court judge held that “a reasonable jury, having considered all of the evidence most favorable to Summit, would have found in Nidek’s favor,” according to a news release issued by Nidek late last week.
In a press release issued the same day, Alcon said it plans to appeal the judge’s ruling and “believes strongly that the original verdict was correct and fully supported by the evidence at trial.”