General Electric Co. v. Sonosite, Inc.

OPINION and ORDER

BARBARA B. CRABB, District Judge.

This is a civil action for infringement of a patent for compact, handheld ultrasound machines. Defendant SonoSite, Inc., is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,722,412 (the '412 patent) that claims an ultrasound system weighing less than ten pounds. Plaintiff is in the business of creating predominantly large scale ultrasound systems. Planning to launch two new portable systems, the Venue 40 and a lightweight version of the Venue 40, and believing reasonably that defendant might file a patent infringement suit regarding these products, plaintiff…