Court Orders Clinipro LipoCryo Removal From Market in France
U.S. Class Action Securities Litigation Dismissed
PLEASANTON, Calif., May 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZELTIQ® Aesthetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZLTQ), a medical technology company focused on developing and commercializing products utilizing its proprietary controlled-cooling technology platform, today announced that it prevailed in two major legal cases.
On May 23, 2013, the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris issued its ruling on ZELTIQ's and the Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) request for a permanent injunction against Clinipro's LipoCryo based on LipoCryo's infringement of a European patent owned by MGH and globally licensed exclusively to ZELTIQ which is utilized in ZELTIQ's CoolSculpting® System. The Tribunal ruled that the MGH patent is valid and enforceable and that Clinipro's LipoCryo infringes the claims in the MGH patent. The Tribunal ordered Clinipro and its distributors immediately to stop selling, offering for sale, importing, distributing or marketing LipoCryo in France thus removing the product from the market.
On May 20, 2013, ZELTIQ obtained a ruling in the Alameda County Superior Court of California granting in its entirety ZELTIQ's motion to dismiss a class action securities litigation against ZELTIQ and two former executives of ZELTIQ.
"We continue to take an aggressive and proactive approach in enforcing our CoolSculpting intellectual property and brand internationally and domestically," said Mark Foley, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are very pleased with the Tribunal's decision which further validates CoolSculpting's strong intellectual property position. Our proprietary CoolSculpting system is specifically engineered to monitor, deliver and maintain a precise cooling temperature. Counterfeit systems, such as those manufactured by Clinipro, are looking to profit on our pioneering and innovative technology with products that do not provide physicians and patients the safety and performance results that they have come to expect. CoolSculpting continues to be the market leader and is the only cold-based, non-surgical fat reduction and body contouring treatment that is FDA-cleared. With over 550,000 procedures to date worldwide, we have unrivaled clinical experience in this area and will continue to seek to protect our technology, physician practices, and patients from counterfeit products."
Mr. Foley added, "As well, we continue to defend the investments in our registered CoolSculpting brand by aggressively pursuing those physicians that blatantly violate our trademarks by marketing their practices as CoolSculpting centers. We have been successful both domestically and internationally in defending our brand and will not tolerate unauthorized usage."
Mr. Foley concluded, "Finally, in terms of the securities litigation, we are extremely pleased with the Court's ruling to grant our motion for dismissal in its entirety. Our internal legal team led by our General Counsel, Sergio Garcia, along with our outside securities litigation counsel, Cooley LLP®, did an outstanding job. This is a very positive outcome on this matter and we look forward to continuing to focus on the growth and expansion of our business."
About ZELTIQ® Aesthetics, Inc.
ZELTIQ is a medical technology company focused on developing and commercializing products utilizing its proprietary controlled-cooling technology platform. ZELTIQ's first commercial product, the CoolSculpting System, is designed to selectively reduce stubborn fat that may not respond to diet or exercise. CoolSculpting is based on the scientific principle that fat cells are more sensitive to cold than the overlying skin and surrounding tissues. It utilizes patented technology of precisely controlled cooling to reduce the temperature of fat cells in the treated area, which is intended to cause fat cell elimination through a natural biological process known as apoptosis. ZELTIQ developed CoolSculpting to safely, noticeably and measurably reduce the fat layer.