GE settles SonoSite lawsuits

GE settles SonoSite lawsuits
GE Healthcare will pay SonoSite $21 million for a perpetual nontransferable worldwide license to a family of ultrasound patents addressing hand-carried ultrasound scanners, according to the Bothell, WA-based developer of these systems. In addition to the upfront payment, GE will pay ongoing royalties on U.S. sales and production of ultrasound systems weighing less than ten pounds until 2016, when the relevant patents expire. Specifically, the agreement, announced Oct. 19, resolves a lawsuit filed in 2008 by GE in the federal district court in Madison, WI, to invalidate SonoSite's US Patent No. 5,722,412. It also covers pending appeals of certain rulings in a patent infringement case filed by GE in the same Wisconsin court in 2007. The settlement further resolves a revocation action filed by GE in Federal Patent Court in Germany relating to the '412 patent.