Hologic, Inc. (Bedford, MA) has sued Conceptus, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) for false patent marking. These cases have been all the rage in other districts, but haven’t really caught on in D. Mass.
The complaint alleges that Conceptus marks its Essure® Permanent Birth Control System with Patent Nos. 6,679,266 and 6,145,505 directed to applying energy / electrical current as part of a sterilization method for females. The complaint also alleges that the Essure® system doesn’t use energy / electrical current and asserts that Conceptus has been known to take different positions on that question, in particular when trying to differentiate its product from Hologic’s competing product. Hologic accuses Conceptus of falsely marked its products knowingly and with an intent to deceive.
Hologic, Inc. v. Conceptus, Inc., 10-11355-PBS (D. Mass. Aug. 10, 2010)