Jury finds in favour of Markforged in Desktop Metal’s patent infringement suit
July 30, 2018
In the conclusion of a lawsuit filed against Markforged, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, by Desktop Metal, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, a federal jury has returned a complete non-infringement verdict after finding that Markforged did not infringe and has not induced or contributed to infringement by its customers.
Desktop Metal’s suit was based on U.S. Patent Nos. 9,815,118 and 9,833,839, which were granted to Desktop Metal in 2017 and covered the company’s interface layer technology for both its Studio System™ and Production System™. It had alleged that the manner in which the Markforged Metal X Additive Manufacturing system forms ceramic release layers for the separation of parts from the build plate infringed on these patents.
Speaking on the verdict, Greg Mark, Founder and CEO of Markforged, stated, “We feel gratified that the jury found we do not infringe, and confirmed that the Metal X, our latest extension of the Markforged printing platform, is based on our own proprietary Markforged technology.”
Desktop Metal commented, “Desktop Metal is pleased that the jury agreed with the validity of all claims in both of Desktop Metal’s patents asserted against Markforged. Desktop Metal has additional claims pending alleging trade secret misappropriation by Markforged. The Federal District Court has bifurcated those counts and will try them at a later date. […] We are currently reviewing legal options concerning the infringement issue.”
