Visx Sues LaserSight Over Use of Equipment

Visx Inc., the No. 1 maker of vision-correction lasers in the U.S., accused rival LaserSight Inc. of wrongly using its patented invention for equipment used in optical surgery. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Visx says in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., that it is the owner of a U.S. patent awarded in 1988 protecting an apparatus that scans the corneal surface of the eye and reshapes it with laser energy to correct problems such as nearsightedness. Visx claims Winter Park, Fla.-based LaserSight is making and selling equipment for eye surgery based on Visx’s patented invention. Officials of LaserSight would not immediately comment. Shares of LaserSight closed at $13.62 down 81 cents on Nasdaq. Shares of Visx rose $3.31 to close at $75.81.