J&J Loses Bid for Agency Review of Alcon’s Eye Surgery Patents

A Johnson & Johnson unit failed to convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to take another look at two patents on lasers used in cataract surgery that belong to rival Alcon Inc.

The patents are involved in ongoing litigation between the parties where both sides have accused the other of patent infringement.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied J&J Surgical Vision Inc.'s petition to institute review of Alcon’s U.S. Patent Nos. 9,622,913, and 9,849,036. It cited its discretion to deny review when a petitioner raises the same prior art or arguments previously presented to the patent ...