Conformis and Bodycad Settle Patent Dispute

Conformis, Inc., Bodycad Laboratories, Inc., and Bodycad USA Corp. have reached a settlement to resolve their patent litigation.

The patent infringement suit was filed by Conformis in June 2021. The companies came together to settle the matter for an undisclosed amount. The Conformis press release stated that the companies were “pleased to have resolved their ongoing patent litigation.”

With the settlement, Conformis agreed to dismiss all of the patent litigation between the companies. Additionally, per the press release, the companies also agreed to a “release and license to certain Conformis patents related to patient-specific instrumentation and knee implants.”

Conformis filed the litigation alleging patent infringement for patents the company owns by assignment. The litigation involved a number of orthopedic products and patents including the following:

• patent 8,974,539, “patient-adapted and improved articular implants, designs and related guide tools”;
• patent 9,387,079, “patient-adapted and improved articular implants, designs and related guide tools”;
• patent 7,799,077, “minimally invasive joint implant with 3-dimensional geometry matching the articular surfaces”;
• patent 8,077,950, “methods for determining meniscal size and shape and for devising treatment”;
• patent 8,638,998, “fusion of multiple imaging planes for isotropic imaging in MRI and quantitative image analysis using isotropic or near-isotropic imaging”; and
• patent 9,180,015, “implants for altering wear patterns of articular surfaces.”

Conformis is a medical technology company headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts. It focuses on designing and developing orthopedic implants to fit the patient instead of, per court documents, “fitting the patient to the implant.” It accomplishes this by offering both personalized implants and patient-specific instrumentation.

In the original complaint, Conformis alleged that Bodycad’s Reflex Uni Accused System (a system for unicondylar knee replacement surgery) infringed on the above listed patents. Specifically, those patents ending in 539, 079, 077, 950, and 998. Conformis also claimed that Bodycad’s Fine Osteotomy Accused System (a knee system for osteotomies) violated patents ending in 950 and 015.