In a case involving emerging technology, the U.S. International Trade Commission last week took the rare move of staying an order order it issued in April against a company that was found to infringe a competitor’s patents on a teeth-straightening technique, saying it would wait for an appellate ruling.
The action came in a closely watched patent infringement case brought by Align Technology Inc., a maker of a clear, almost invisible teeth-straightening system, against ClearCorrect Operating LLC. ClearCorrect generates digital models of patients’ teeth in its overseas offices and transmits the digital data to its headquarters in Texas, where 3D printers create molds used to make the teeth-straightening aligners.
