Loading...
Loading...
Align Technology, Inc.
today provided an update on its Enforcement Complaint, one of two complaints filed against
ClearCorrect Operating LLC, based in Houston, TX, and ClearCorrect
Pakistan (Private) Ltd. (ClearCorrect Pakistan), based in Lahore,
Pakistan with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC)
in March 2012. The Enforcement Complaint sought enforcement against
ClearCorrect of a prior Consent Order entered by the ITC on October
27, 2006 in the OrthoClear ITC action. The Consent Order prevented
OrthoClear from importing its dental aligner products into the U.S.,
either directly or through third parties, such as ClearCorrect
Operating, ClearCorrect Pakistan, and certain former OrthoClear
employees who now own, manage, and are employed by ClearCorrect
Pakistan in Lahore, Pakistan.
On January 4, 2013, the Commission reversed an earlier ruling by the
presiding Administrative Law Judge and terminated the Enforcement
Proceeding instituted by the Commission on April 25, 2012, which
sought enforcement of the 2006 OrthoClear Consent Order against
ClearCorrect Operating, ClearCorrect Pakistan, and four officers of
ClearCorrect Pakistan. In the Notice issued January 4, the Commission determined that the 2006 OrthoClear Consent Order could not be
enforced against ClearCorrect and its former OrthoClear employees.
The Commission's decision is limited to the contractual issue of
whether the Consent Order could be applied against ClearCorrect's
current method of operation. While the Consent Order expressly
prohibits the importation of physical dental aligner products and
generally prohibits
the importation of any other products that
infringe Align's patents, the Commission nevertheless found it
dispositive that the Consent Order does not contain a specific,
express prohibition of the transmission of digital treatment data,
such as the digital data imported from Pakistan by ClearCorrect to
manufacture its aligners.
In an effort to avoid the prohibitions of the Consent Order,
ClearCorrect structured its relationship with the former OrthoClear
operation in Pakistan to rely on the transmission of digital
treatment data, with the aligners themselves being manufactured in Houston, Texas. In the presiding Administrative Law Judge's Order
issued November 28, 2012, Administrative Law Judge Robert K. Rogers
found that digital transmission of data was within the general
provisions of the Consent Order prohibitions and thus covered by the
terms of the 2006 Consent Order. The Office of Unfair Import
Investigation also supported Align's position on the issue.
The Commission's decision regarding the Enforcement Proceeding does
not impact the Patent Infringement Proceeding instituted by the
Commission on April 1, 2012 against ClearCorrect Operating and
ClearCorrect Pakistan.
Loading...
Loading...
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
Join Now: Free!
Already a member?Sign in