The Court held a summary judgment hearing at which plaintiffs argued that the evidence proves that Align’s scheme directly caused Class members to pay unlawfully inflated prices for Invisalign® aligners. Defendants argued that plaintiffs have failed to prove their claims. The Court took both sides’ arguments under consideration.
The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP represents plaintiffs in City Smiles v. Align Technology, Inc., filed in the United States District Court for the Northern Division of California. This antitrust class action on behalf of all dental practices that purchased Invisalign® aligners and/or iTero® Scanners directly from defendant Align Technology, Inc. (Align), arises from Align’s alleged acquisition and maintenance of monopoly power in the markets for two products:
- Custom-manufactured, transparent, removable dental aligners made from clear plastic
- Hand-held digital intraoral scanners used to generate scans to order aligners
Align has dominated the aligner market for decades with its Invisalign aligners. It controls approximately 90 percent of the aligner market and earns over $1 billion a year selling Invisalign, with durable profit margins above 75%. Align dominates the scanner market with its iTero® product, controlling approximately 80% of the market and earning several million dollars a year selling iTero®, with profit margins above 60%.
Aligners and scanners are designed to work together for dental practices. Scanners take a digital image of the jaws, teeth, and bite of a patient. These scans are sent to an aligner manufacturer, which uses the images to create custom-manufactured aligners for patients. Patients typically undergo regular scans and have numerous sets of aligners manufactured during a course of treatment, with aligners being adjusted as the patients’ teeth move. Scanner usage creates a “digital workflow” designed to make it more convenient, cheaper, and quicker for dental practices to order aligners. This workflow has increased the use of Invisalign aligners by dental practices.
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For many years, Align relied on a web of hundreds of patents to protect its monopoly, enabling Align to charge above-market prices and earn high-profit margins on Invisalign. Their monopoly came under threat in 2017 due to the expiration of several of its key patents and increased competition in the Aligner and scanner markets.
Align responded to this threat with a multifaceted anticompetitive scheme to monopolize both the scanner and aligner markets (the “scheme”). Plaintiffs allege that Align terminated an agreement to allow dentists to order Invisalign® aligners from a competitor’s scanners. This forced the dentists to purchase iTero® scanners if they wanted to be able to offer the popular Invisalign® aligners. This action, when combined with other exclusionary practices, enabled Align to unlawfully obtain monopolies in both the scanner and the aligner markets. The scheme substantially foreclosed competition in both markets. Through it, Align was able to use its monopoly power in the aligner market to drive competitors out of the scanner market, and then to use its increased monopoly power in the scanner market to maintain its monopoly power in the aligner market and to charge supracompetitive prices for its aligners and its scanners.
Plaintiffs bring this class action on behalf of themselves and other dental practices who purchased aligners and/or scanners directly from Align from March 15, 2015-present. Plaintiffs seek treble damages and injunctive relief, and demand a jury trial under the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 2) and Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 15, 26)