SiliconBeat

Align Technology, the Santa Clara manufacturer and supplier of the Invisalign teeth-straightening system, lost a jury verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it in January 2003 by Ormco Orthodontics.

The jury found that Align infringed Ormco’s patent 6,616,444 related to “Custom orthodontic appliance forming method and apparatus”. Monetary damages will be determined in a later trial, according to a press release issued by Align, which said the ruling did not “currently preclude” it from selling its Invisalign system.

Align said it intends to “vigorously challenge the verdict through an appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.”