SAN DIEGO – Southern Calif-based ResMed has filed parallel legal actions with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and U.S. federal court “to stop the infringement of ResMed patents.” ResMed filed the actions against Taiwanese manufacturer APEX Medical and its U.S. distributor, Medical Depot Inc, doing business as Drive Medical Design and Manufacturing.

ResMed alleges that multiple ResMed patents are infringed by several APEX products, including:
• The APEX WiZARD 210 and WiZARD 220 masks;
• The identical Freedom 210 and Freedom 220 masks made by APEX and sold by Medical Depot; and
• The APEX iCH and XT Fit flow generators

ResMed is asking the ITC to stop the importation and sales of these products in the United States, and it is asking the U.S. federal court to stop the infringement and award damages against the defendants.

“For more than two decades, ResMed has generated significant advances in innovative products for sleep-disordered breathing therapy,” said David Pendarvis, global general counsel and chief administrative officer, ResMed. “We invest over a hundred million dollars in research and development each year to fuel these advances and other companies should not be allowed to infringe ResMed’s intellectual property by using our technology.”

“Patent infringement suits between large national and multi-national companies are not uncommon,” said one industry source. “They usually take years, large attorney’s fees, and multiple expert witnesses to resolve. More often than not, such suits are settled long before they go to trial.”

“Patent issues have been raised in the industry for many years,” added Bob Fary, vice president of Sales, Inogen Inc, Goleta, Calif. “I do not expect that to change.”