Elenza, Inc. v. Alcon Laboratories Holding Corporation

SEITZ, Justice:

Replacement lenses used to treat eye cataracts have a limitation-the new lenses focus only at one distance. In most cases, reading glasses are still required after surgery. Elenza, Inc. thought it had a solution to the problem-an electro-active intraocular lens ("EAIOL") that used electric power and changes in eye pupil size to "trigger" the focus of an artificial lens. If it worked, patients could see clearly at multiple distances without glasses.

Alcon Laboratories Holding Corporation, a developer of artificial lenses, was also exploring EAIOL lenses. Elenza and Alcon decided…