Court allows patent infringement to continue

Pembroke Park, FL-In a twist to the ongoing patent suits filed by Aspex Eyewear Groups, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, ruled in March to allow the company’s patent infringement litigation against Marchon Eyewear, Revolution Eyewear, and others to go forward, according to an Aspex statement.

Aspex filed suit 2 years ago against vision VSP Vision Care claiming that VSP had stolen Aspex’s patented clip-on frame technology and business. The suit was filed in in U.S. District Court in Miami. The initial claim and two subsequent appeals were dismissed. At the same time, VSP made the decision to no longer provide in-network coverage for Aspex brand frames.

This latest ruling confirmed that the prior successful litigation over one of Aspex's magnetic clip-on technology patents does not bar the company's patent infringement claims on products made after the prior suits were resolved, according to the statement.

"We applaud the decision by the Federal Circuit, which allows Aspex to proceed with patent infringement claims against Revolution, Marchon and Nike," said Thierry Ifergan, executive vice president, Aspex Eyewear. "This ruling validates our right to prevent others from 'trespassing' on Aspex's valuable intellectual property and sends a clear message that continued infringement will subject the infringer to enforcement actions.

We remain resolute in our efforts to enforce our patents and intend to continue to vigorously defend our position in this matter."

For more articles in this issue of InDispensable, click here.