Skin-Care Companies Settle Patent Suit

Light-based, at-home consumer skin-care products maker Tria Beauty Inc. of Dublin and Cynosure Inc. of Westford, a developer of laser- and light-based aesthetic systems used by medical practitioners, have settled their patent infringement case, the companies announced this week.

The suit was between Tria and Palomar Medical Technologies, which Cynosure acquired in June. Under the agreement, Cynosure will receive $10 million plus future royalties and a nonexclusive royalty-free license to certain Tria patents outside the consumer market.

Under two separate patent license agreements, Tria will receive a nonexclusive license to two US patents, Nos. 5,735,844 and 5,595,568, for consumer hair-removal products, and a nonexclusive, royalty-bearing, worldwide license to the claims of certain Palomar patents, including but not limited to US Patent Nos. 8,182,473, 8,328,794 and 8,328,796, for consumer hair-removal products. These patent claims cover the hair-removal products that were the subject of the second lawsuit between Palomar and Tria.

"This agreement resolves the litigation involving certain Palomar patents, eliminating potential future legal expense to enforce those patents," said Cynosure President and CEO Michael R. Davin. "Equally important, the settlement fully values our intellectual property rights by fairly compensating Cynosure and its shareholders for sales of products based on our proprietary hair-removal technology."

"We are pleased to have executed this settlement agreement with Cynosure so we can continue our focus on delivering breakthrough skin-care devices directly to consumers that provide transformative benefits not available outside of a physician's office, without the distraction and expense of litigation," said Tria Beauty President and CEO Kevin Appelbaum.

For more information, visit: www.triabeauty.com or www.cynosure.com