Icon Laser Eye Centers Seeks Stay in the Summit Technologies Lawsuit

Icon Laser Eye Centers Inc. (Toronto) filed a motion in the Delaware Courts seeking to stay a lawsuit filed against the company by Summit Technologies, pending the outcome in the courts of claims and counterclaims of the patent litigation of Visx and Summit vs. Nidek Inc.

"We believe that the consumer should not be hurt by the exorbitant pricing of laser vision correction charged by users of Visx and Summit lasers," says Simone Mencaglia, CEO of Icon. "We use all three lasers: Nidek, Visx, and Summit; however, on the Nidek laser we charge substantially less to the patient. We will pay the $250 royalty only if forced to do so after all appeals by the U.S. courts."

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer has lifted the stay of its antitrust case against Visx Inc. The Court's decision permits Nidek to pursue immediately its antitrust allegations against Visx. The lifting of this stay follows a decision by the International Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge on December 6 in favor of Nidek.

Edited by Kristin Keiser