Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Hair pulling fight: Candela disputes more Palomar patents

By Mass High Tech Staff

Barely a couple of months after one of its long patent battles with Palomar Medical Technologies Inc. was decided in Palomar’s favor by a Texas court, Candela Corp. is back at it, asking the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to re-examine a pair of laser patents held by Palomar.

Patent Nos. 5,595,568 and 5,735,844 are licensed by Burlington-based Palomar and are the subject of Palomar’s patent infringement lawsuit brought against Wayland-based Candela (Nasdaq: CLZR) on Aug. 9, 2006, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The Texas court decision, rendered on Oct. 8. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, was for just one of three patent suits between the companies, and there are still two pending patent suits — one bought by Candela and one by Palomar in U.S. District Court in Boston.

According to Candela officials, the ’568 and ’844 patents are already being re-examined by the PTO based on requests filed by an unnamed third party. The patents relate to the use of laser technology for hair removal. The patents in the Texas suit were related to the treatment of wrinkles using laser technology.

Candela, founded in 1970, makes laser and light-based technologies to treat selected cosmetic and medical conditions. The company reported a $9 million loss for 2008, on revenue of $148.2 million.