Straumann v. NT Trading & Glidewell?

[RJS8669]

Straumann rep told me that they had won a lawsuit against NT Trading resulting in a cease and desist on NTT selling any components featuring Straumann interfaces. Also, stated that they expected a similar result in a suit against Glidewell. Lastly, she expected that with their success in these suits that other large implant manufacturers would follow with similar actions.

Anybody else heard anything about this?

 

[2thm8kr]

Haven't heard anything, but if the patent is expired on any of the designs its open season.

 

[Gru]

Well, that's $traumann: "Simply doing more" to make higher profits.

 

[CadCamTech]

http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles...copied-implant-components-from-us-market.html

 

[2thm8kr]

http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles...copied-implant-components-from-us-market.html

Thanks

 

[PDC]

The thing about waiting on patents to expire is that if the company tweaks the design a little bit, then they can start the patent process again for another 20 years. I still don't understand how Atlantis gets away with marketing all the brands they do without any legal repercussions. This will affect a lot of companies using the Nt Trading products such as Argen and many smaller milling operations.
It looks like everyone will be dealing with the big boys again. Since Straumann bought Medentika, the pool of manufacturers just got a little smaller. I'm pretty sure that is why they just invested millions into 2 more milling machines in Arlington Texas.

 

[Axis Dental Milling]

Not good, not good at all!

 

[rkm rdt]

Will straumann cease milling interfaces for other companies as well?

 

[zero_zero]

What about Southern Implant's MAX-IT ?...same interface as $traumann...

 

[doug]

Interesting since Straumann owns a company in Canada that manufactures knock-offs of a lot of other implant systems.

 

[Gru]

Interesting since Straumann owns a company in Canada that manufactures knock-offs of a lot of other implant systems.

Perhaps different regulatory rules in CA?

On a tangent, I consistently steer anyone who inquires away from $traumann. Why would they want to pay a high premium when the competitors are completely acceptable, more cost effective and easier to work with?

 

[2thm8kr]

Perhaps different regulatory rules in CA?

On a tangent, I consistently steer anyone who inquires away from $traumann. Why would they want to pay a high premium when the competitors are completely acceptable, more cost effective and easier to work with?

I'm sure many people around here are sympathetic to your tangent.

 

[rkm rdt]

Let's look at this from a different perspective for a minute.

Isn't Straumann actually giving the same reasoning for their fees as we give for ours?

Perhaps we should be pointing this out to the drs that want us to provide those $85 crowns.

They may have just supported our position by illuminating this double standard.

 

[LA Ceramics]

http://www.straumann.com/content/in...e_2/file.res/Straumann_-_Amann_Girrbach_Media

 

[Gru]

I was once told that everything Straumann touches they wreck for the rest of the industry. I didn't believe them then, but after seeing what they've done to "their" scanning labs and to DW, maybe it's not far off.
Prediction based on Straumann history: sales will sell the system to labs saying or merely implying that they will be the only ones able to purchase/mill abutments on those interfaces, then they will sooner rather than later sell them to anyone who wishes to mill them and undermine those labs. Sorry to see a company reputed to be as good as AG aligned themselves with Straumann.

 

[LA Ceramics]

I grew tired of spending money on fish food so I got an idea.
I decided to cut way back on the amount of food that I feed the fish in my pond.
The big fish ate all the little fish,... but I saved a lot of money.
I decided to quit feeding the fish all together.
It was very interesting to watch them struggling to survive,
They eventually died of course.
I used the money I saved to drain the pond and plant vegetables.
The decaying bodies of the remaining fish proved to be an excellent fertilizer
I never really cared for fish.

 

[CatamountRob]

I grew tired of spending money on fish food so I got an idea.
I decided to cut way back on the amount of food that I feed the fish in my pond.
The big fish ate all the little fish,... but I saved a lot of money.
I decided to quit feeding the fish all together.
It was very interesting to watch them struggling to survive,
They eventually died of course.
I used the money I saved to drain the pond and plant vegetables.
The decaying bodies of the remaining fish proved to be an excellent fertilizer
I never really cared for fish.

Nice. I grew up spending money on pot, which is prolly why I don't get your metaphor......

 

[PDC]

I'm not sure how the in-house milling thing will work out for Straumann. I really don't see it as advantage to partner labs. If it isn't cost effective to mill your own stuff then what's the point. Send it to the main milling facility and let them deal with all the issues associated with milling. Selling this just for that benefit is a little weird. This industry is so disjointed with all this milling stuff!

 

[2thm8kr]

Nice. I grew up spending money on pot, which is prolly why I don't get your metaphor......

Uh, use the dead fish to fertilize your pot garden??

 

[BobCDT]

Here is the deal. NT has agreed to pull back Straumann interface inventory from just U.S distribution. There is no patent in Canada. As a result, all distributors can still sell these parts into Canada.
There is a strong believe at Straumann, that after market parts result in more failures. Not sure if there is any data around this but the patient nor the lab is going to get hurt by having Straumann on Straumann.
By supporting S on S all of our pricing to docs will need to go up. If docs don't like it they will or can switch to more economical implant solution. I guess Straumann is up for testing the waters on this one. In my lab I offer both S on S and after market. The vast majority of docs select the more economical path. I expect many dentists will move to a different implants as there is big pricing preasure thoughout the industry. And, there is certainly no shortage of more economical solutions.
Today, Straumann has Viriobase for hybrid abutments and screw retianed crowns. You can outsource titanium CA's to Staumann using 3Shape scan files. There is no Staumann based model work flow that I'm aware of.
That's it for now. I have been in close touch with both Straumann and NT Trading and will continue to do so. At CAP we are now looking at our options to determine best path for our customs and patients. Will keep you posted.