Dr. U Devices Sues Devroye Instruments for Willful Patent Infringement

Devroye "Hybrid Trumpet" Hair Punch Infringes Dr. U Patent

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., March 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. U Devices, a leading provider of advanced hair restoration solutions, today announced through its attorneys at Kilpatrick Townsend that it has filed a complaint for patent infringement with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City. The complaint seeks money damages and an injunction against the manufacture, use and sale of Devroye Instruments' infringing hair punches in the United States.

Dr. U Devices contends that Dr. Jean Devroye and his Devroye Instruments' "Hybrid Trumpet" hair punch infringe U.S. Patent No. 8,876,847, which issued on November 4, 2014 to Dr. Sanusi Umar, founder of Dr. U Devices, and claims Dr. Umar's pioneering concave-sided punch. The complaint alleges that Dr. Devroye copied this proprietary technology after attending a March 2016 workshop in Paraguay, where Dr. Umar presented his patented "UPunch" technology to Dr. Devroye and others. Within months of that workshop, Dr. Devroye began selling his infringing product to others, including Dr. Robert True, who was also named as a defendant in the complaint. Dr. Umar learned of Dr. Devroye's infringement at a trade show in Las Vegas in September 2016, where he also notified Dr. Devroye of the '847 Patent. Undeterred, according to the complaint, Dr. Devroye has continued to manufacture and sell infringing devices.  Today's U.S. complaint follows a similar German complaint filed in November 2017 against Devroye for infringement of German patent rights to Dr. Umar's concave-sided punch. 

Dr. Umar commented: "I put years of hard work into developing UPunch to help people seeking hair restoration treatment. It is deeply regrettable that anyone—especially a colleague—would knock off my invention and present it as her/his own."

Dr. Umar is a noted hair restoration surgeon, dermatologist, and clinical faculty member of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). An inventor on numerous United States patents, Dr. Umar is a pioneer and innovator in the field of hair replacement therapies.

Dr. U Devices is now launching its new UPunch product for use in follicle unit extraction procedures worldwide. Dr. U Devices intends to vigorously defend its patented technology against unlawful sale and use in the United States.

SOURCE Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton