January 12, 2017
“Judge Knocks Out Imaging Patent For Inequitable Conduct,” Law360, January 12, 2017
Visage Imaging Inc. won a ruling Wednesday that a patent for a 3-D medical image system is unenforceable after a Georgia federal judge decided that the patent’s owner committed inequitable conduct while getting the patent reinstated.
U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story said Maurice Bailey didn’t know why the original owner, Integrated Medical Systems Inc., didn’t pay the patent’s maintenance fees when his company acquired IMS’s patent portfolio in 2014. Yet in an effort to get the expired 3-D systems patent reinstated, Bailey certified to the patent office that the missed payment was unintentional.
One of Bailey’s businesses, 3D Medical Imaging Systems LLC, later sued Visage and its parent company, Pro Medicus Ltd., for infringement.
…
“We are happy with the result for the client and hopeful the decision helps others in defending themselves against patents available as the result of fraud on the Patent Office,” Greg W. Meyer of Harness IP & Pierce PLC, an attorney for Visage and Pro Medicus, said in a statement.
…
