United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Cancels All Claims of Swift Medical’s Patent

MolecuLight Victorious in its Efforts to Prove Swift Medical Did Not Merit a Patent

TORONTO and ALEXANDRIA, VA, Nov. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — MolecuLight® Inc., the leader in real-time detection of elevated bacterial loads in wounds through point-of-care fluorescence imaging, is pleased to announce the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded a complete victory to MolecuLight in the Petition for Post Grant Review filed by MolecuLight, challenging the patentability of Swift Medical’s U.S. Patent No. 11,266,345 (“the ‘345 Patent”), directed to an “Apparatus for visualization of tissue.”

The decision cancels each of the original claims of the ‘345 Patent and declares unpatentable each of Swift’s proposed substitute claims. Amongst the prior art deemed by the USPTO to render the ‘345 Patent unpatentable is a patent application licensed to MolecuLight that lists MolecuLight’s Founder, Dr. Ralph DaCosta, as the sole inventor.

MolecuLight’s robust global patent portfolio includes more than 180 patents and registrations related to essential technologies for capturing real-time fluorescence images, including those of bacteria and tissues, using portable handheld systems at the point-of-care. These patents encompass a wide range of point-of-care white light and fluorescence imaging solutions that include elements such as drapes (DarkDrapes®) for attachment to the imaging device, components of the user interface, and aspects connected to the image processing and display.

“Our MolecuLight i:X® and DX™ devices inform wound care decisions for thousands of clinicians worldwide thanks to MolecuLight’s significant investments in technology development and clinical validation”, says Anil Amlani, MolecuLight’s CEO. “MolecuLight is committed to protecting these investments in R&D, and to bringing novel technologies to clinicians for the ultimate benefit of improved patient care. We respect the patent systems in place around the world that help protect our and others’ technologies, and we do not seek patent protection on previously known technology.”

The MolecuLight i:X and DX are the only clinically validated (fluorescence) imaging devices for the real-time detection of elevated bacterial burden in wounds that are cleared by FDA as Class II medical devices and approved by CE and Health Canada. With unmatched clinical evidence, including over 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications involving more than 2,600 patients worldwide, MolecuLight’s i:X and DX technologies are integrated into standard clinical practice by leading wound care facilities globally.

MolecuLight Inc. is a privately-owned medical imaging company that has developed and is commercializing its proprietary fluorescent imaging platform technology in multiple clinical markets. MolecuLight’s suite of commercial devices, which includes the MolecuLight i:X® and DX™ fluorescence imaging systems and their accessories, are point-of-care handheld imaging devices for the real-time detection and localization of bacterial load in wounds and digital wound measurement. MolecuLight procedures performed in the United States benefit from an available reimbursement pathway which includes two CPT® codes for physician work to perform “fluorescence imaging for bacterial presence, location, and load” and facility payment for Hospital Outpatient Department (HOPD) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) settings through an Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) assignment. The company is also commercializing its unique fluorescence imaging platform technology for other global markets with relevant unmet needs in food safety, consumer cosmetics and other key industrial markets.

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