Monday, August 4, 2014
LAKE WALES, Fla. (July 28, 2014)—BMC Medical Co., Ltd and 3B Medical, Inc. ("3B/BMC") announced today a global strategy to go on offense and seek to invalidate portions of ResMed's patent portfolio in China, Germany and the United States. James Xu, President of BMC Medical, confirmed that challenges to a large body of patents have already been filed simultaneously in all three countries, with trials concluded in the United States and China.
"We have a significant investment in research and development, but we believe that ResMed is misusing the patent system in an anti-competitive manner, and so we have to be proactive on the global landscape to assert our right to compete in this product space," said Xu.
Last week 3B/BMC announced the filing of an Inter Partes Review (IPR) in the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of a ResMed (RMD) patent. The patent challenged under IPR 2014-01196 focuses on a CPAP humidifier structure. Since the America Invents Act created the IPR proceeding in September 2012, hundreds of petitions have been filed challenging patents. The PTAB has instituted IPR proceedings in most instances and canceled a majority of patent claims challenged in these proceedings.
"We are continuing to study ResMed's patent portfolio to identify further challenges," said Xu.
Today's announcement includes the formal filing of patent invalidation proceedings in Germany on two additional ResMed patents.
