Fonar settles patent case with Toshiba

Fonar and Toshiba Corp. have settled their pending litigation over MRI patent claims, the companies reported this month. As part of the settlement, Toshiba made a monetary payment of an unspecified amount to Fonar, of Melville, NY. Neither company admitted liability in the settlement, which included cross-licensing arrangements.

The litigation was part of Fonar’s ongoing effort to assert its patent claims against other MRI vendors, a campaign that has resulted in monetary payments from GE, Hitachi, Philips, and Siemens. Fonar and Toshiba had filed claims against each other in U.S. District Courts in New York and California.

In other Fonar news, the company reported third-quarter financial results (end-March) of $7.1 million, up 60% compared with $4.4 million in the same period a year ago. Fonar’s net loss was $3.7 million, compared with $5.7 million in the third quarter of 1997.

Much of the revenue growth was due to Fonar’s acquisition activities in physician practice management, a new business for the company. Meanwhile, revenues in the firm’s MRI equipment business were flat for the first nine months of 1998: Fonar had $5.8 million in revenue from equipment sales and service in the period, matching sales in the same period in 1997.