Candela files new suit against Palomar
Alleges patent infringements in rival’s hair removal product
Laser-based cosmetic device maker Candela Corp. in Wayland has filed a second patent suit against its largest Bay State rival, days after that rival announced it received approval to sell a first of its kind, over the counter hair removal system.
Candela filed the suit against Burlington-based Palomar Medical Technologies in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, late last month. The suit targets Palomar’s 1540 Fractional handpiece device, which is used for skin resurfacing, and its Lux Y handpiece, used for hair removal. Candela claims those devices infringe on its patents.
Candela had filed an earlier patent suit in August in Massachusetts alleging that Palomar’s Q-YAG 5 system, used for a variety of cosmetic procedures, also infringes on Candela’s patents.
The newest suit comes days after consumer products giant and Gillette Company owner Procter & Gamble announced that it would had received FDA approval to sell the world’s first over the counter laser hair removal system, built around Palomar technology.
Palomar VP Patricia Davis dismissed the newly filed Texas suit as a "defensive maneuver" by Candela.
Palomar had separately filed a patent suit in Massachusetts against Candela in August, alleging that Candela’s GentleLase and GentleYag products, which are used in a variety of cosmetic procedures, including laser hair removal, infringe on patents Palomar has licensed exclusively from Massachusetts General Hospital.
In June, Palomar won a $22 million judgment in a patent suit against a California firm, Cutera Inc., for using the same technology it now claims Candela uses.
The legal jockeying between the companies illustrates the intense competition for market dominance in laser and light-based cosmetic devices. It is a fast growing segment of medical device industry that some analysts value between $2 and $4 billion per year. The rush to market products in the sector has prompted the FDA to announce that it cannot maintain an up-to-date list of all laser manufacturers whose devices have been cleared for hair removal, because the market is growing so quickly.
Palomar may have recently gained the largest foothold in the segment with the Gillette deal.
The Gillette-marketed hair removal system has yet to be named. No release date for the product has been published.
"Our bringing the product to market has no bearing on the Candela suits," Palomar CFO Paul Weiner says, although acknowledging that the technology used in the over the counter product will be use the same basic science as its professional products.
"It’s got really big potential," Weiner says. "We are selling into a market that is approaching the multibillion business. Women’s hair removal was a $10 billion business in 2005."
A Candela spokeswoman declined to return messages left seeking comment. But Candela, in its 2005 annual report, made clear its interest in ensuring rights to its intellectual property: "Our failure to respond to rapid changes in technology and intense competition in the laser industry could make our lasers obsolete... our financial condition and operating results could be hurt if... we are not agile in responding to competitors’ new product introductions."
Kenneth J. St. Onge can be reached at kstonge@wbjournal.com
Candela Corp.
Headquarters: Wayland
Annual revenue: $149.5 mil. (2006)
Employees: 312
Main products: GentleLASE, Vbeam and ALEXLAZR, families of laser-based treatments for hair removal, vascular lesions, wrinkles and other cosmetic needs.
Palomar Medical Technologies Inc.
Headquarters: Burlington
Annual Revenue: $76 mil. (2005)
Employees: 200
Main products: Lux family of light-based systems and handpieces to treat hair removal, pigmentation lightening, skin resurfacing and other cosmetic needs.
Source: Each company’s most recent annual report
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