ResMed Inc has sued 3B Medical Inc and BMC Medical Ltd for alleged patent infringement regarding a trio of patents ResMed claims infringe on claims covering the elbow swivel of a nasal pillow mask and the water flow back valve of a humidifier, according to information from 3B Medical.
“This lawsuit (Case No. 13CV1246MMAWMC, United States District Court, Southern District of California) is the newest in a series of similar suits aimed at limiting new market entrants into the sleep market. 3B/BMC alleges the lawsuit is intended to do little more than erect huge hurdles to market entry by forcing crippling litigation costs. At least that is what it looks like on the surface,” said Alex Lucio, vice president, 3B Medical.
Lucio continued, “We have never knowingly traded off of another company’s intellectual property. Our success is based on our own research design, engineering, and low cost manufacturing.”
As corporate policy, 3B/BMC intends to defend any IP challenges. Furthermore, 3B will fund an advertising campaign to explain manufacturing costs of the items in this product space.
