Intuitive Surgical Accused of Cornering Robot Repair Market

Restore Robotics LLC is accusing Intuitive Surgical Inc. of unlawfully shutting competitors out of the market for surgical robot repairs.

Surgical robots are gaining popularity worldwide, and Intuitive dominates the market, Restore said in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida Feb. 27.

The maker of the Da Vinci robot system is likely to maintain this monopoly for several years, as it holds active patents covering the system and was the only manufacturer to receive Food and Drug Administration clearance for surgical robots up until 2015, Restore said. Another company has received FDA ...