19/05/2020 | 07:05 CEST | Group Announcements
Stäfa (Switzerland), May 19, 2020 –Sonova Holding AG, a leading provider of hearing solutions, announces today that on May 18, 2020 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has denied the petition by Cochlear Ltd. (Cochlear) for an en banc review of the Court’s earlier judgement, with which it affirmed a verdict in the patent infringement lawsuit by the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research (AMF) and Advanced Bionics LLC (AB) v. Cochlear. The court thereby ultimately confirmed the earlier judgement and that Cochlear willfully infringed two patents, and confirmed the awarded damages of USD 268 million, plus interest. As a co-plaintiff, AB is entitled to a share of the damages awarded, after deduction of certain costs for the proceedings. Sonova expects that the verdict will result in a one-time income of around CHF 100-120 million in FY 2020/21. A motion by AMF and AB for pre-trial interest is still pending a ruling by the District Court.
The lawsuit concerned two patents owned by AMF related to technology for cochlear implants. The lawsuit was filed by AMF back in 2007. AB exclusively licensed the two patents from AMF and for that reason was brought in at a later date as a necessary party. The patents in question have since expired.
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