August 22, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Biomet settles a portion of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by an affiliate of patent troll Acacia Research Group and loses a European case brought over some of its bone cements.
Biomet said this week that it settled a portion of a patent infringement case with a notorious patent troll and lost a trade secrets theft lawsuit brought in Germany over some of its bone cements.
Last year an affiliate of Acacia Research Group, 1 of the largest patent troll operations in the U.S., sued Biomet for failure to pay royalties, misuse of confidential information and infringement of 15 patents licensed by Acacia, according to a regulatory filing. Biomet had already sued for a judgment of non-infringement in a different court, according to the filing.
Warsaw, Ind.-based Biomet said it settled the claims over 4 of the patents in March “for a 1-time payment.”
“The company is vigorously defending this matter and believes that its defenses against infringement for the patents remaining in the suit are valid and meritorious,” according to the filing. “The company can make no assurances as to the time or resources that will be needed to devote to this litigation or its final outcome.”
Behind every claim that someone is a patent troll is a company or even whole industries who chose to use a patented invention without licensing it. These companies are depending on the high cost of patent enforcement to exclude inventors or their agents from having their day in court.
If Bionet has settled they did so because they had been caught red handed with their sticky fingures in someones patent cookie jar.