3M wins dental ceramic colour-matching patent lawsuit, then grants licence to Dental Direkt

摘要

Towards the end of May 2016, 3M Corp (headquartered in St Paul, MN) won a lawsuit filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court, claiming infringement of 3M's patent rights by Dental Direkt GmbH (of Spenge, 15 km north of Bielefeld, Germany). Dental Direkt had been selling zirconia CAD/CAM blocks under the brandnames DD Bio Z and DD Bio ZX2-Translucent and it had been selling liquid colorants under the brandnames DD Bio Z Color Classic and DD Bio ZX2 Monolith Zero. These products were deemed to have infringed 3M's patents for colour-matching ceramic-based dental implants and repairs so as to match the patient's natural teeth. Dental Direkt has now been granted a licence to use 3M's technology.