Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has filed a complaint against its rival ResMed, alleging some of ResMed's masks used to treat
obstructive sleep apnea infringe its patents.
Auckland-based F Healthcare said it has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, alleging the AirFit P10 for Her
masks and AirFit P10 for AirMini masks infringe five of its patents and seeking a permanent exclusion order and cease
and desist order to prevent the sale and importation of the AirFit P10 range of masks in the US.
“Over the past 20 years, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has built a significant portfolio of more than 2,000 issued and pending patents," F Healthcare managing director Lewis Gradon said in a statement. "We have developed unique mask technology that has
provided improved care and outcomes for patients with OSA and we take infringement of our intellectual property rights
very seriously.”
F Healthcare's action comes hot on the heels of a complaint to the commission from ResMed earlier this month, where the
US company sought to ban the importation and sale of F Healthcare's Simplus full face mask, Eson nasal mask and Eson 2 nasal mask in the US, and separately lodged a new suit
in the US district court accusing the Kiwi firm of patent infringement and seeking damages plus an injunction against
future sales of the masks.
The rival companies have been locked in litigation since 2016 spanning the US, UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
F Healthcare spent $15.6 million on litigation in the year ended March 31, 2018, down from $20.7 million a year earlier.
F Healthcare said today its earnings guidance for the 2019 financial year remains unchanged as its latest update on Sept.
3 allowed for legal costs of the latest action. That guidance said the patent dispute would cut annual earnings by as
much as $10 million to a range of $205 million to $210 million in the year ending March 31, 2019, from a previous
forecast of $215 million.
F Healthcare shares slipped 0.3 percent to $14.75, having gained 15 percent over the past year.