F&P Healthcare extends patent fight vs ResMed to Australia

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare has extended its patent fight with ResMed to Australia, seeking damages and injunctions to halt sales of its rival's products that it says infringed four patents.

The proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against ResMed and several related companies seek "a range of remedies, including damages and injunctions preventing the manufacture and sale of these products by ResMed in Australia," the Auckland-based company said in a statement.

F&P Healthcare "alleges that ResMed's AirSense 10, AirCurve 10, S9 and S9 VPAP flow generators, Lumis non-invasive ventilators, ClimateLine and ClimateLineAir heated air tubing and HumidAir heated humidifier infringe four patents" on products used to treat respiratory conditions, it said.

Last month, F&P Healthcare won a patent case against ResMed in the UK in the ongoing intellectual property dispute for its face and nasal masks across various jurisdictions. The High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court ruled a disputed ResMed patent was invalid, with the New Zealand manufacturer entitled to recover its legal costs with the amount yet to be determined by the court.

In 2016, F&P Healthcare claimed that three of ResMed's European patents were invalid in the UK and should be revoked. ResMed counterclaimed for infringement but did eventually revoke two of the patents, leaving only one before the court.

ResMed argued that patent EP 2 708 258 B1 was infringed by two of F&P Healthcare's masks used for obstructive sleep apnea therapy, the Eson and Simplus masks. Had the patent been valid it would have been infringed. However, "the court found that the patent was invalid in its entirety," F&P Healthcare said.

In October F&P Healthcare said that the Regional Court in Munich had ruled ResMed did not infringe its patents on a German utility model patent. A further case is before the same court regarding another patent with a ruling expected in 2018, pending proceedings filed by F&P Healthcare in the European Patent Office.

"We take the infringement of our intellectual property rights very seriously and we will continue to take whatever action is necessary to protect our investment," said managing director Lewis Gradon.

Last month, the company posted a 4 percent gain in first-half profit to $81.3 million and said the increase would have been higher if not for $12.2 million of patent litigation costs over disputes Resmed. Those costs were up from $2.4 million a year earlier. It said annual profit would be between $185 million and $190 million, a range that it reiterated today.

F&P Healthcare shares fell 0.9 percent to $13.40 and have gained 61 percent in the past 12 months.

(BusinessDesk)