United States Patent and Trademark Office Accepts CoolTouch's Re-examination Request for Cynosure '873 Patent

Roseville, CA (PRWEB) June 2, 2009

On May 22, 2009 the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) accepted CoolTouch's request to re-examine the '873 Paolini laser lipolysis patent based on prior art by Dr. David Apfelberg and Mr. David Hennings. As a result, CoolTouch Inc. has petitioned the court for a motion to stay the litigation regarding this patent between CoolTouch and Cynosure.

CoolTouch CEO, David R. Hennings states " The Patent office's rapid response to our request supports CoolTouch's contention that the '873 Paolini patent is invalid. I hope that they rule on the strong merits of our case just as quickly so we may see this litigation end soon. With this new ruling, the Court will certainly accept our motion for stay and we expect they will also approve our motion for summary judgment that the '873 patent is invalid."

The CoolTouch CoolLipo™ 1320 wavelength laser was designed to be superior to the Cynosure SmartLipo 1064 laser technology and does not infringe Cynosure's '873 Paolini patent involving laser-assisted lipolysis. The CoolLipo incorporates state-of-the-art 1320 nm laser technology, coated fibers, and a variety of handpieces which allow the fiber to be extended beyond the end of the cannula, thereby not infringing the '873 patent whose claims require that the fiber must be adjacent to the end of the cannula. The CoolTouch advantage of extending the fiber beyond the cannula helps prevent inadvertent heating of the cannula and assists in cutting connective tissue. On December 22, 2008 the court's Markman ruling rejected Cynosure's attempts to define "adjacent" to mean "in the vicinity of" the tip of the needle. The CoolTouch CoolLipo™ device uses a fiber that extends 5mm beyond the top of the cannula and is clearly not "next to" the tip of the cannula.

CoolTouch also states that thousands of pulsed Nd:Yag lasers with specifications identical to the original SmartLipo have been sold since the mid-1980s. The fiber optic and delivery handpieces described in the '873 patent have also been commercially available for over 20 years for use in orthopedics, general surgery, urology and oral surgery. Combine this "off-the-shelf technology" with the pioneering clinical work by Dr. Apfelberg, David Hennings and others in the early 1990s on laser-assisted lipolysis and the Paolini patent claims are obvious, invalidating the patent.

About CoolTouch
CoolTouch Inc. is a leading U.S.-based developer and manufacturer of innovative, advanced laser products for medical professionals. Engineering and science based, CoolTouch is considered a pioneer in the medical and aesthetics technology industry. In 1994, CoolTouch introduced the first 1320 nm wavelength laser for non-ablative wrinkle treatment. CoolTouch continued to set new standards in the industry with the launch of CoolTouch CTEV™ in 2004 for varicose vein treatment and with CoolLipo™ for laser lipolysis ands skin tightening in 2007. CoolTouch products are FDA-cleared and are manufactured in Roseville, Calif. For more information; http://www.cooltouch.com/

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