Iridex gets positive ruling in patent suit; Synergetics responds

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., July 10 - The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri has ruled in favor of Iridex Corp. regarding claim construction for 13 of 14 patent terms involved in the patent infringement action it brought against Synergetics USA, Inc.

Claim construction is the process in which a judge, during a "Markman" hearing, rules on the interpretation, definition and scope of patent claims that are under dispute in a patent litigation.

The suit alleges that Synergetics infringes Iridex's U.S. Patent No. 5,085,492 entitled "Optical Fiber With Electrical Encoding."

The court confirmed Iridex's position that its patent may cover a two-piece probe connector, such as the one sold by Synergetics. With respect to the 14th patent term, the court's decision split the difference between Iridex's and Synergetics' positions.

"While we believe the claims of Iridex's patent should have been construed more narrowly, the outcome of the Markman hearing is just one element of a multifaceted lawsuit," Synergetics president and chief executive officer Gregg D. Scheller said in a news release.

Synergetics said it continues to believe that Iridex filed this lawsuit based on the inaccurate belief that Synergetics' laser probe sales onto Iridex lasers currently exceed $12 million per year.

In fact, the total sales over the entire six-year period barely exceed this number, according to the Synergetics release.

Further, even if Iridex were successful in this lawsuit, Synergetics said it expects that any damages to which Iridex would be reasonably entitled would be a small fraction of these total sales.

"I find it surprising that Iridex has the desire to sustain this lawsuit, at this level, based on the sales numbers that they have been provided," Scheller said.

Based in O'Fallon, Mo., Synergetics designs, manufactures and markets medical devices for use primarily in ophthalmic surgery and neurosurgery and for other health care applications.

Iridex, based in Mountain View, Calif, develops therapeutic-based laser systems, disposable laser probes and delivery devices to treat eye diseases in ophthalmology and skin diseases in dermatology markets.

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