Patently Obvious® Report on Elekta AB’s Ticking Time”Bomb

Date:  Wed, 2014-01-15

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – M·CAM, Inc. released a Patently Obvious® on Elekta AB.

Is Elekta AB an innovation leader in oncology or an over-inflated minor player in the medical devices industry? Between the quarterly reports and glowing press pieces, it is understandable that Elekta is performing strongly on the OMX Nordic Exchange. There is, however, a serious case to be made that Elekta’s supposed strength is undermined by systemic issues visible in its intellectual property portfolio.

Elekta AB operates in the United States and a number of other countries, providing linear accelerators and coincident products and services to healthcare providers. Their newest product, the Versa HD™, has been billed as an oncology treatment with faster, more accurate radiation treatment for cancerous tumors in patients. Elekta has had some success in acquiring a backlog of orders, but finds itself limited by giant industry incumbents when it comes to proprietary rights for their products. In other words, is Elekta actually producing legally protected innovative medical devices, or are they attempting to maintain market share without the properties they need to sustain it?

Elekta’s current patent portfolio consists of 421 patents and patent applications, only 127 of which are for devices in a commercially viable space. Thirteen of the patents, for Elekta’s core technology, are potential active liabilities to the company, and another 44 have little to no commercial value. Our analysis has shown that industry incumbents like Siemens, Varian, and General Electric often have defensible, more robust patents that predate Elekta’s holdings in critical areas. Eletka’s portfolio is uncompetitive in this environment, and that should be taken into account when assessing the total enterprise.

The full M·CAM Patently Obvious® on Elekta AB can be found HERE.