GLOBAL INNOVATOR IN DRY EYE TREATMENT, THERMAMEDX TO SEEK INVALIDATION OF OCUGIENE PATENT CLAIMS

ATLANTA, Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ThermaMEDx, LLC, maker of the innovative EverTears® eye pad designed to aid in the treatment of dry eyes, today announced that it is preparing petitions to be filed with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) challenging the validity of patent claims owned by Ocugiene, Inc. and founder Abraham Ebbie Soroudi of Beverly Hills, California. 

EverTears® eye pads were developed in collaboration with ThermaMEDx co-founder and world-renowned ocular professor and optometrist, Dr. Michel Guillon. Professor Guillon's research and clinical work to create new treatments for ocular surface issues like dry eye disease spans nearly 40 years. Professor Guillon is a named inventor on more than 50 patents worldwide, many of which are directed to technologies developed with co-inventors at the world's leading optical companies.

Professor Guillon's technology has been the subject of numerous issued patents and patent applications in the United States and around the world, including an international PCT patent application directed to products for treating eyelid disorders, such as meibomian gland dysfunction.¹ ThermaMEDx has identified Ocugiene patents that were filed after Dr. Guillon's international patent application and which also issued with claims directed to products for treating eye conditions.² ThermaMEDx will seek review of these Ocugiene patents at the USPTO.

ThermaMEDx is preparing petitions for inter partes review (IPR) directed to Ocugiene patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 7,211,070 and 7,513,893. ThermaMEDx's IPR petitions will be filed with the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board and will request invalidation of certain claims in these patents. The evidence accompanying ThermaMEDx's petitions will include, among other things, Dr. Guillon's international patent application.

A ThermaMEDx spokesperson shared that "ThermaMEDx values intellectual property and believes it is in the public interest to bring clarity to the patent landscape for eye treatment products. Based on the amount of evidence that we believe supports our forthcoming petitions, we look forward to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's findings regarding the Ocugiene patents."   

¹ International Application No. PCT/GB2003/004782 filed November 5, 2003 (published as WO 2004/041134 A1)
² See e.g., U.S. Patent Nos. 7,211,070 (issuing from U.S. Application No. 10/799,209 filed March 12, 2004 and claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/526,251 filed December 1, 2003); and 7,513,893 (issued from U.S. Application No. 11/324,848 filed on January 3, 2006 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application No. 10/799,209).

SOURCE ThermaMEDx, LLC