Plaintiff
18 cases as plaintiff.
Company overview. Align Technology, Inc. ("Align") is a publicly traded global medical device company (Nasdaq: ALGN), founded in March 1997 and headquartered at 410 North Scottsdale Road, Tempe, Arizona. It is not a subsidiary and has no parent. Align reports roughly 21,000 employees worldwide and FY2024 total revenues of approximately $4.0 billion, with an Americas regional headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, EMEA headquarters in Rotkreuz, Switzerland, and APAC headquarters in Singapore (Align 10-K, FY2024). Market capitalization has recently been reported in the low-teens billions of dollars.
Products / services. Align designs, manufactures, and sells the Invisalign® System of clear aligners for treating malocclusion, Vivera™ retainers, iTero™ intraoral scanners and services, and exocad™ CAD/CAM software for dental labs and practitioners. It operates two reported segments: Clear Aligner (~81% of FY2024 revenue) and Imaging Systems and CAD/CAM Services (~19%). Products are sold largely through a direct sales force to orthodontists, general dental practitioners, dental labs, and dental support organizations. Align is an operating company, not a non-practicing entity, and holds a substantial patent portfolio (roughly 900+ active US patents per its 2024 fact sheet).
Patent-litigation posture. Align is primarily an enforcing plaintiff, consistent with the case data (18 plaintiff vs. 4 defendant appearances). Its suits target rival clear-aligner and dental-scanning competitors, and it has repeatedly used Section 337 actions at the U.S. International Trade Commission alongside district court and Federal Circuit appeals. It is not a frequent target of NPE suits in this data set; its four defendant-side appearances stem from competitor disputes (Ormco, ClearCorrect) rather than patent-assertion entities. Cases appear in the Central District of California, Northern District of California, District of Delaware, Southern District of Texas, the ITC, and the Federal Circuit — not concentrated in the Eastern District of Texas.
Notable cases. Prominent tracked matters include Align v. Ormco (C.D. Cal., 2003), Align v. OrthoClear (ITC, 2006), the long-running Align v. ClearCorrect litigation at the ITC, S.D. Tex., and Federal Circuit (including appeals following the 2014 ClearCorrect decision), Align v. SmileCareClub (N.D. Cal., 2015), and Align v. 3Shape A/S (D. Del., 2017). These reflect Align's enforcement focus on clear-aligner manufacturing and intraoral scanning technology.
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Align sued 3Shape entities in the District of Delaware, initially asserting U.S. Patent No. 6,227,850 as one of six pleaded patents. The '850 patent was not carried forward, and the currently asserted patents in the related dispute included U.S. Patent Nos. 9,566,132; 8,545,221; 8,092,215; 7,065,115; and 8,734,149; the final disposition as to the '850 patent was not confirmed.
Align Technology sued SmileCareClub, Camelot SL, and Brookstone for patent infringement and false advertising/unfair competition. The complaint asserted fourteen Align patents, with U.S. Patent No. 5,975,893 first-listed and attached as Exhibit A. The docket status is closed, but termination terms were not verified.
Align asserted the '037 patent as one of fourteen Align patents against SmileCareClub and related entities. The PTAB's IPR2016-00270 Final Written Decision identifies this action as the litigation involving the '037 patent, but the final disposition was not confirmed in the narrative.
Consolidated Federal Circuit appeals (Nos. 2013-1240 and 2013-1363) arising from the ITC enforcement proceeding and the 337-TA-562 Consent Order that covered U.S. 6,685,469 among the patents-in-suit.
Align brought an ITC enforcement proceeding under 19 C.F.R. § 210.75 to enforce the 337-TA-562 Consent Order against ClearCorrect Operating, LLC, ClearCorrect Pakistan (Private), Ltd., and four individuals. The ITC found a violation of the consent order, leading to Federal Circuit appeals.
Align Technology filed an enforcement proceeding against ClearCorrect and its officers to enforce the 2006 Consent Order from Inv. No. 337-TA-562. The action was directed at the '511 and '880 patents specifically, but the Consent Order included the '070 patent. The Commission ultimately found no violation and terminated the proceeding, rescinding cease-and-desist orders.
Align filed an enforcement proceeding under 19 C.F.R. § 210.75 alleging ClearCorrect and bound officers violated the 2006 consent order. The '880 and '511 patents were the basis for the enforcement complaint; the Commission found no violation, Align appealed, and the matter was resolved by an April 7, 2015 termination agreement.
Align Technology filed a Section 337 complaint against ClearCorrect entities asserting claims 1 and 3 of the '880 patent. The Commission initially found a violation, but after Federal Circuit reversal on the article requirement, the Commission rescinded the cease-and-desist orders and terminated with a finding of no violation on September 23, 2016.
Align filed suit against ClearCorrect entities, alleging infringement of nine Align patents including U.S. 6,398,548 and U.S. 5,975,893. The case was stayed in 2012 pending an ITC proceeding, stay lifted in 2017, reexamination certificates confirmed the challenged '548 claims, and final judgment on Mar. 28, 2019 dismissed all claims and counterclaims with prejudice.
ITC Section 337 investigation instituted Feb. 15, 2006, on Align's complaint against OrthoClear, Inc. et al. Asserted claims included U.S. 6,398,548 claims 21, 22, 24-30, 32-36, 38, and 39, along with numerous other Align patents and trade-secret claims; terminated by consent order implementing the Align-OrthoClear global settlement.
Ormco sued Align on Ormco's U.S. patents 5,447,432, 5,683,243, 6,244,861, and later 6,616,444; Align counterclaimed asserting U.S. 6,398,548 and 6,554,611 against Ormco/AOA. The district court found infringement, held some '548 claims invalid, upheld claims 10 and 17, and entered a permanent injunction; the parties settled Feb. 1, 2006, but appeals ended with all asserted '548 claims invalid and escrow returned.
Align appealed from the ITC enforcement proceeding relating to the 2006 consent order that included U.S. Patent No. 6,227,850. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded, holding the ITC exceeded its authority in reviewing the ALJ's order denying termination and remanding for trial on whether former OrthoClear employees violated the Consent Order.
Align Technology sued SmileCareClub, Sharper Image, and Brookstone in N.D. Cal., asserting U.S. Patent No. 6,227,850 as one of fourteen Align patents along with false advertising and unfair competition claims. The final disposition of the case, including as to the '850 patent, was not confirmed in the narrative.
Appeals to the Federal Circuit from the ITC enforcement proceeding (Inv. No. 337-TA-562 Enforcement), with ClearCorrect intervening. The '070 patent appears via recitation of the 2006 Consent Order's patent list. The court reversed the ITC's determination that it could review the ALJ's order denying termination, vacated, and remanded.
Align appealed the PTAB's IPR2016-00270 Final Written Decision invalidating claims 1, 2, 9, and 10 of the '037 patent. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded on August 22, 2018, and the mandate issued April 4, 2019.
Appeal from the ITC's ClearCorrect enforcement proceeding. The Federal Circuit reversed and remanded on procedural grounds, holding the ITC exceeded its authority by reviewing an ALJ's order denying a motion to terminate. The narrative treats the '840 patent connection as family-level and unconfirmed; the enforcement dispute is described as involving the 2006 Consent Order and the '880 and '511 patents.
Align Technology sued ClearCorrect entities in the Southern District of Texas. Align stated the case was based in part on some of the acts of patent infringement asserted in the ITC complaint, which included the '880 patent; final judgment dismissed all claims and counterclaims with prejudice on March 28, 2019.
Appeal by Align Technology from the ITC's determination in the 337-TA-562 enforcement proceeding; the Federal Circuit issued its opinion on July 17, 2014.