Teladoc accused Amwell of patent infringement in a Sept. 14 letter recently made public.
Four details:
1. In January, Teladoc acquired InTouch Technologies for $600 million. InTouch has a patent portfolio that covers aspects of telemedicine including robot use and telemedicine carts. In a letter from Teladoc's intellectual property counsel, the company accused Amwell of infringing on nine patents.
2. Examples outlined in the letter include patents that infringe on Teladoc's patents for telemedicine carts and peripheral devices including the Horus HD digital scope system and Thinklabs One digital stethoscope.
3. In the letter, Teladoc demanded Amwell stop selling, making and using products associated with the patent. The letter also asked Amwell to acknowledge receipt by Sept. 18, or Teladoc would enforce its patents.
4. Amwell filed an IPO earlier this summer, and in a form filed on Aug. 24, the company acknowledged the potential for future patent infringement accusations.
"We expect that we may receive in the future notices that claim we or our clients using our solution have misappropriated, misused or otherwise infringed on other parties' intellectual property, particularly as the number of competitors in our market grows and the functionality of applications amongst competitors overlaps."
The company also stated that future litigation could be costly, whether or not it's successful. Amwell said that it employs individuals who were previously employed with competitors, although it tries to prevent the unauthorized spread of proprietary information.
More articles on telehealth:
Taskforce on Telehealth Policy: 4 recommendations to maximize telehealth cost, quality benefits
VA taps Apple to provide 50,000 veterans with iPads for virtual care services
Top 10 physician specialties using telemedicine