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IntraLase sues Carl Zeiss for alleged breach of confidentiality agreement
Zeiss denies that it used IntraLase technology to develop its own version of the laser device.
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IntraLase Corp. has sued Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., alleging that Zeiss improperly used confidential product information to develop a device based on the IntraLase FS femtosecond laser.
Filing suit in California Superior Court, Orange County, Nov. 9, IntraLase claimed that CZM “breached an intellectual property agreement” by “improperly using confidential and proprietary information of IntraLase which Zeiss wrongfully induced IntraLase to disclose,” according to a press release from IntraLase.
IntraLase “seeks damages for breach of contract and payment to IntraLase of all revenues and profits derived by Zeiss from the sale and use of its laser,” according to the release.
“The dispute that we have with Zeiss currently is not an intellectual property issue,” IntraLase president and chief executive officer Robert J. Palmisano told Ocular Surgery News in a telephone interview. “We had a collaboration with Zeiss going back several years. In that collaboration, both parties agreed not to disclose, use or design around each other’s technology.”
Zeiss demonstrated its own femtosecond laser at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in Las Vegas, Mr. Palmisano said.
“When [Zeiss] announced that they were going to be showing and demonstrating a femtosecond laser, it seemed obvious to us that there was an issue regarding that agreement they made with us,” Mr. Palmisano said. “To develop a laser like that, they had to do something like that [use information from the IntraLase FS platform]. That’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of.”
Mr. Palmisano expressed a desire for the matter to be resolved before going to court.
“I don’t do this frivolously,” he said. “A lot of CEOs make a career out of this and I certainly don’t. It’s kind of a last resort with me. Certainly, it is my hope that somehow the two parties will get together and work this out.”
The IntraLase FS is most commonly used to make corneal flaps in LASIK procedures. Recently, the device has also been used in lamellar and penetrating keratoplasty and intrastromal ring implantation.
Zeiss: Claims are ‘without any merit’
In a news release issued Nov. 13, Zeiss contended that it did not violate an agreement with IntraLase.
“We have investigated IntraLase’s allegations thoroughly and we have determined that these claims are completely baseless,” Ulrich Krauss, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, said in the release. “CZM has not breached any agreement or obligation to IntraLase, nor has CZM otherwise acted improperly.”
IntraLase’s legal action was in “direct contradiction to the values and culture of the entire Carl Zeiss organization,” Mr. Krauss said. “We are a company that has always operated carefully and ethically, and one that respects its agreements with, and obligations to, third parties, as well as any valid third-party intellectual property rights.”
Mr. Krauss also called the suit an “inappropriate action … an obvious effort to disrupt” the planned demonstration of Zeiss’s femtosecond laser at the AAO meeting.
“CZM will take all necessary steps to defend itself aggressively against these false claims,” Mr. Krauss said.
James L. Taylor, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, agreed that the suit is “without any merit at all.”
“We have reviewed the suit and the claims as thoroughly as we know, and believe that they are without any merit,” Mr. Taylor told Ocular Surgery News in a telephone interview.
Citing “legal caution,” Mr. Taylor declined to comment further.
For more information:
- Robert J. Palmisano, president and CEO of IntraLase Corp., can be reached at 9701 Jeronimo Road, Irvine, CA 92618; 949-859-5230, ext. 260; e-mail: bpalmisano@intralase.com.
- Ulrich Krauss, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, can be reached at Carl Zeiss Meditec AG Göeschwitzer Strasse 51-52, 07745 Jena, Germany; 49-36-41-2-20-1-05; fax: 49-36-41-2-20-1-17; e-mail: u.krauss@meditec.zeiss.com.
- James L. Taylor, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., can be reached at 5160 Hacienda Drive, Dublin, CA 94568; 925-557-4662; fax: 925-557-4481; e-mail: j.taylor@meditec.zeiss.com.
- Matt Hasson is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology, and focuses on regulatory, legislative and practice management topics.