Zimmer Biomet and Nextremity Solutions are being sued by devicemaker Extremity Medical for alleged patent infringement.
The lawsuit involves Extremity Medical's U.S. patent No. 8,303,589 for an intraosseous fixation platform, according to an April 6 news release.
In 2021, Extremity Medical sent a letter to Nextremity and Zimmer Biomet about its patents, including patent No. 8,303,589, according to the lawsuit, filed Feb. 25 in the U.S. District Court of Delaware.
The lawsuit alleges patent infringement from the marketing of the InCore Lapidus System. InCore is distributed by Zimmer Biomet, according to Nextremity Solutions' website.
"Extremity Medical has invested a tremendous amount of effort and resources in research and development to create innovative technology to improve the lives of patients and meet surgeons’ needs," Extremity Medical CEO Matthew Lyons said in the release. "Our intellectual property is a critical component in making such advancements possible and we are committed to protecting it."
Ryan Schlotterback, chief technology officer at Nextremity Solutions, said the patent in question is invalid.
"Nextremity intends to vigorously defend against this meritless litigation both in court and before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board in which an Inter Partes Review was initiated to invalidate the asserted patent claim," Mr. Schlotterback said in an April 8 email to Becker's.
The lawsuit is asking for a jury trial. Zimmer Biomet did not respond to requests for comment April 6.