In May 2006, Mannatech filed a lawsuit against Techmedica and Ionx in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, alleging infringement of its patents (6929807, 7157431, 7196064, 7199104 and 7202220). The parties recently agreed to settle this case and, pursuant to their agreement, US District Judge Solis entered his final judgment and permanent injunction.
Keith Clark, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Mannatech, said: “This judgment further validates that our patents are good, valid and enforceable under law, and that Mannatech will vigorously enforce its rights under these patents.”
The final judgment includes findings that Mannatech’s patents are ‘valid and enforceable’, and infringed by Techmedica and Ionx. Additionally, it includes a broad injunction that prohibits Techmedica and Ionx from ‘making, using, offering to sell, selling, or otherwise distributing within the US, or importing into the US, infringing products. It include the current formulations of Activive, Candidol, Claritose, Lupazol, Nutratose, Respitrol, Rhumatol, Synaptol and Viratrol, as well as any other products that infringe the patents in suit’. The court further awards Mannatech damages of $250,000.
The settlement with Ionx and Techmedica comes on the heels of several rulings in the lawsuit favorably construing Mannatech’s patents, and is the latest in a series of cases in which Mannatech has obtained injunctions preventing companies from infringing on Mannatech’s patents.