Invisalign Maker Faces Court Action
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- Published: Thursday, 06 May 2021 07:36
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The maker of Invisalign clear orthodontic appliances is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States.
Business Wire reported that Align Technology is being accused of a nationwide scheme to monopolise the aligner market. It says the scheme has been “Affecting consumers since at least 2017.”
Lawyers at law firm Hagens Berman claim that consumers overpaid for dental aligners due a ‘scheme’ by Align, according to the Business Wire website.
The website said “The lawsuit was filed in on May 3rd in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California and accuses Align of violating federal antitrust laws and various consumer protection laws by monopolizing the dental aligner market, controlling more than 90 percent, and using a variety of anticompetitive tactics to prevent alternatives to Invisalign Aligners from being sold.”
“For example, Align refused to allow rival scanner manufacturers to order Invisalign. Attorneys say Align “…sacrificed short term profits to cement a long term monopoly that would allow them to overcharge consumers in perpetuity.””
Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, is the attorney for the consumers in the class action.
Mr Berman told Business Wire “There’s a reason why the average consumer hasn’t heard of Invisalign’s competitors: Align has used its control of aligners and dental scanners to self-reinforce its market dominance in both markets.”
He continued “Align’s anticompetitive tactics have sustained its monopoly since at least 2017 and has led consumers to overpay for Invisalign, and we believe at $8,000 a pop, Align has a large debt to settle with its customers.”
“Align’s monopoly on the teeth-straightening market has been all crooked,” Mr Berman added.
At current exchange rates, $8,000 is roughly £5,775.
An article on Invisalign in Marie Claire in 2018 put the cost of the treatment with the popular aligners at “£1500, going up to £5000” – which is roughly in line with the cost of treatment in the States.
Business Wire said “The lawsuit states that for many years, Align was able to charge high prices and earn high profit margins on Invisalign because the product was protected by a “thicket of hundreds of patents that Align wielded aggressively to protect its monopoly.”
The lawsuit says Align also used its power to manipulate the market of hand-held digital intraoral scanners used by aligner manufacturers to create individualized aligners for patients.
The website said “Align sells a scanner product called the iTero, which unlike its competitor uses a closed system, imposing substantial costs on dentists who attempt to use the iTero for ordering Aligners that are not manufactured by Align, driving sales of Invisalign.”
“Align used a variety of anticompetitive tactics against a rival scanner manufacturer – ensuring that only its scanner was in dental offices, which meant that only Invisalign Aligners would be ordered. Because of this anticompetitive scheme, Align was able to overcharge consumers who purchased Invisalign Aligners – usually paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for the expensive treatment.”
Business Wire said in 2017, Align CEO Joe Hogan stated“…Align CEO Joe Hogan stated “We’ve been in business now for almost 20 years, and we’ve had so few competitors and people think it’s because we have this great IP, it’s true we have good intellectual property, but it took 15 years for people to really believe that you can move teeth with plastics[.] ... It gave us this period of time to really iterate and learn without the outside influence of other competitors coming in.”
But until other systems achieve attachments and accurate movements software then invisalign will still be charging a lot.
If a competitor has similar features then competitive pricing may happen.
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