Compact-ultrasound developer SonoSite of Bothell, WA, and GE Healthcare of Chalfont St. Giles, U.K., have resolved patent litigation over compact-ultrasound technology.
The settlement covers the lawsuit GE filed in 2008 in a federal district court in Madison, Wisconsin to invalidate SonoSite's U.S. Patent No. 5,722,412 ('412) and a pending appeal in a federal circuit court of rulings in a patent infringement case filed by GE in the same Wisconsin court in 2007.
The settlement also resolves a revocation action filed by GE in the Federal Patent Court in Germany relating to the '412 patent.
Under the agreement, GE will make an upfront payment to SonoSite of $21 million and pay an ongoing royalty on U.S. sales and production of hand-carried ultrasound systems weighing less than 10 lb in exchange for a perpetual nontransferable worldwide license to the '412 patent family. SonoSite will receive these royalties until the '412 patent expires in 2016.
The terms of the settlement also provide for the dismissal of all pending legal actions between SonoSite and GE and a cross-license to the other company's patents asserted in the lawsuits. The settlement agreement includes a dispute resolution process, designed to avoid future litigation between the parties.
GE and SonoSite also agreed to form in a partnership to fund clinical research, education, and training of best practices for point-of-care ultrasound. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
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