Shanghai-based clear-aligner producer Angelalign Know-how Inc. (6699.HK) has categorically denied claims of patent infringement introduced by California-based Align Know-how Inc., pledging defence in a assertion on Wednesday.
“Angel has a wealthy heritage of clinically pushed innovation throughout its 20-plus-year historical past. Accusations by our competitor of patent violations are frivolous and fully with out benefit,” stated Angelalign’s senior vice-president and chief business officer Wealthy Hirschland. “Angel has invested closely in patent compliance since our founding. We’re assured that we’ll prevail on this case.”
Angelalign additionally says that it has delivered 1.5 million clear-aligner “smiles” since its founding in 2003. The corporate went public on the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate in 2021 and launched a world growth technique in 2023, now serving over 50 international locations and areas.
Hirschland added that the litigation shouldn’t be anticipated to materially have an effect on Angelalign’s development. “We anticipate that our development won’t be materially affected by the lawsuits. We stay up for utilizing the lawsuits to inform the Angel success story and assist appeal to extra prospects to Angel around the globe.”
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‘We welcome honest competitors’
In the meantime, Align Know-how stated on Monday that it had filed patent-infringement lawsuits towards Angelalign in the USA, Europe and China, alleging infringements regarding multilayer aligner supplies, treatment-planning software program and superior aligner options. The corporate is looking for each injunctive aid and financial damages.
“We welcome honest and revolutionary competitors. However we’ll defend our personal improvements when corporations select to infringe our years of laborious work and funding as a substitute of legitimately performing analysis and improvement of their very own,” Julie Coletti, Align’s govt vice-president and chief authorized and regulatory officer, affirmed the corporate’s open stance on competitors.
“The patents we’re asserting symbolize vital parts of our broad mental property portfolio and mirror key improvements in clear-aligner remedy,” she added.
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Align’s $300M annual analysis funding
Align additionally disclosed that it invests over US $300 million yearly in analysis and improvement — and has invested roughly US $2 billion since 2001 — underscoring its dedication to innovation. “It’s an unrivalled stage of funding that exhibits clearly our unwavering dedication to our prospects and their sufferers,” stated Coletti.
The corporate stated its operations span the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Center East and Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific). Its international medical treatment-planning centres embrace services in Costa Rica, Poland, Chengdu (China), Spain, France, Germany and Japan, whereas its manufacturing hubs are in Juárez (Mexico), Wroclaw (Poland) and Ziyang (China) — constituting the spine of the world’s largest 3D-printing community for dental aligners.