Aquavit wins judgment in U-Biomed counterfeit suit

US firm Aquavit Pharma has won $10m in damages arising from a lawsuit brought against South Korea’s U-BioMed which accused it of counterfeiting its drug delivery devices.

The judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York also applied $7.2m in sanctions against U-Biomed for “contemptuous conduct”, according to an Aquavit statement, which says its total damages included trademark infringement, counterfeiting, defamation and attorney fees and costs.

The legal dispute dates back to 2019, when Aquavit alleged that U-BioMed and owner/operator Eum Nyun shik had been counterfeiting its AquaGold fine touch product, a microinjection device designed to deliver bioactive compounds into the dermal layer of the skin.

AquaGold fine touch is a single-use delivery device with a reservoir that can be filled with various ingredients, for example vitamins, enzymes, hormones plant extracts, botulinum toxin (active ingredient in Botox) and hyaluronic acid fillers.

Aquavit alleged that U-Biomed was displaying AquaGold “trademarks, videos and counterfeit products” at the Korea International Medical & Hospital Equipment Show (KIMES), which led the Korean company to file a counterclaim that Aquavit had carried out fraud and intellectual property theft.

In 2019, U-BioMed was formally indicted and found guilty for infringement of Aquavit’s trademark in the criminal court in South Korea, according to the US company, saying it was the first of a series of judgments that went against the company.

Last year, an EU court held U-BioMed accountable and invalidated its registration of the infringing mark, declaring that U-BioMed knowingly and intentionally filed a trademark rightfully owned by Aquavit and its actions to be wilful and done purposefully in an effort to confuse consumers, according to Aquavit.

It also said U-Biomed was defeated recently in a Korean civil court on allegations stemming from the intellectual property.

“We take pride in all our inventions and innovations and these are unnecessarily painful steps we must take to continue to protect our product integrity, physicians, and patients,” said Sobin Chang, Aquavit’s chief executive.

“Aquavit prides itself on its outstanding technology and reputation in the pharmaceutical industry and will continue to police misconduct to safeguard itself as well as its assets.”