iVIS Technologies S.r.l. (iVIS), based in Italy, is one of the
world’s leading manufacturers of medical devices for treating refractive
disorders and various corneal eye diseases.
For one of its inventions, iVIS was granted the European patent EP 1
649 843 which relates to a smart control of the surface power density of
surgical laser systems which becomes more and more important in
increasingly fast laser systems. This control not only prevents
overheating and associated unintended damage to the cornea tissue but
also unpredictable interference between consecutive laser pulses. Thus,
the duration of the surgery is minimized and a particularly even
ablation is achieved at the same time, which makes the procedure even
more precise.
SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH (SCHWIND) had challenged the validity
of the German part of EP 1 649 843 (60 2005 003 750.0) by way of a
nullity complaint filed with the German Federal Patent Court. Due to the
Court’s decision dated November 19, 2019, said nullity complaint was
dismissed in its entirety and the patent was maintained as granted.
SCHWIND may lodge an appeal against this decision with the German
Federal Court of Justice.
Representatives of iVIS: BARDEHLE PAGENBERG (Munich)
(German and European Patent Attorney, Partner)
(Attorney at Law, Partner)
(Patent Engineer and Trainee Patent Attorney)
Representatives of SCHWIND:
Hofstetter, Schurack & Partner (Munich) and
Jones Day (Munich)
Dr. Alfons Hofstetter (Patent Attorney, Hofstetter, Schurack & Partner) Gerd Jaekel (Attorney at Law, Jones Day)
4th Nullity Senate of the German Federal Patent Court:
Presiding Judge: Ingrid Kopacek