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SPECIAL NOTE:

IN OCTOBER 2006 ORTHOCLEAR REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH INVISALIGN IN WHICH IT AGREED TO STOP PRODUCTION OF TREATMENT ALIGNERS BY ITS COMPANY. ORTHOCLEAR PATIENTS WERE PERMITTED TO CHOOSE TO CONTINUE TREATMENT AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE WITH INVISALIGN.

 

September 20, 2005

 

Dear Doctor:

 

Thank you for making OrthoClear the fastest growing company in Orthodontic history. Since we launched the OrthoClear System in May, we have trained over one thousand doctors and are now delivering over one thousand cases per month!

Our prescribing clinicians are consistently reporting their excitement over OrthoClear’s advanced clinical performance, optimized patient aesthetics, and improved oral hygiene.

As OrthoClear has prospered and grown, our principal competitor, Align Technology, has been unable to compete on the basis of product quality, performance, and cost. Instead, Align has taken to misstating the truth in an attempt to slow our advance. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with facts, so that you, our customer, understand what is really going on.

One damaging falsehood that Align is circulating is that OrthoClear is somehow violating its patents and that, as a result, OrthoClear can be “shut down.” OrthoClear is not violating Align’s patents.

Zia Chishti, OrthoClear’s CEO, was the founder and CEO of Align and the principle inventor listed on Align’s patents. Charlie Wen, OrthoClear’s President and Chief Technology Officer, was the longstanding Chief Technology Officer of Align. Nobody understands the scope of Align’s patents, which are publicly filed, better than Mr. Chishti or Mr. Wen.

In fact, of the first one hundred employees of Align Technology, fewer than ten still remain. Align has simply lost the talent that built the company, leaving no one with the ability to move beyond yesterday’s technology. Lacking an ability to effectively compete in the marketplace, Align has resorted to untruthful rhetoric regarding patents. What you are hearing from Align is desperation, not fact.
What Align is not telling you is that the concept of clear aligner treatment is over sixty years old.

In fact, Align’s own website will tell you so, http://www.invisalign.com/generalapp/ us/en/faq/what.jsp:

In 1945, Dr. H.D. Kesling envisioned that one day modern technology would enable the use of a series of tooth positioners to produce the kinds of movements required for comprehensive orthodontic treatment.

What Align is also not telling you is that they have been suing Sybron Dental for over three years to try to stop them from selling the Red White and Blue System. Despite their press releases and public allusions to the contrary, nothing Align has achieved in court has slowed or stopped the sales of Red White and Blue, which continues to be freely available today.


Chris Kawaja, Chief Financial Offi cer Tricia Hummel Seifert, General Counsel Craig Crawford, Director of Clinical Research Frank Liu, Director of Research & Development Jeff  Tunnell, Director of Sales Keith Wolf, Director of Marketing Although, as they have done with Sybron, Align may try to confuse the market by fi ling unsubstantiated and ultimately unwinnable patent lawsuits, Align cannot stop new competitors from coming into the market for clear aligner therapy. Another falsehood that Align is circulating is that OrthoClear is not meeting our timelines for product delivery. The fact is that our track record on case delivery times has proved outstanding. In over three thousand cases treated with OrthoClear to date, we have met our published timelines 97% of the time. Our goal is when you submit a case to OrthoClear, you are confident not only in the product, but also in the entire treatment process. We stand behind the following timeline commitment and guarantee: OrthoClear’s Timeline Commitment • The time from when you have shipped a case to our San Carlos, CA facility to the time you will receive an OrthoView for your review and approval, is no more than three weeks. • The only exception to this promise would be if the case submission was incomplete, or if the case requires a new impression. • The time from when you approve OrthoView to the time you receive your first aligners is no more than three weeks. OrthoClear’s Guarantee • If you do not receive your OrthoView or aligners within the promised time periods, YOUR CASE IS FREE. We encourage you to ask Align Technology to match our guarantee. We felt it was important to set the record straight from inside OrthoClear. We absolutely stand by our product and we look forward to working with your offi ce for many years to come. Thank you for choosing OrthoClear - The Next Generation in Invisible Orthodontics. Sincerely yours, Peter Riepenhausen, Chairman of the Board Zia Chishti, Chief Executive Officer Charlie Wen, President and Chief Technology Officer Joe Breeland, VP of Sales and Marketing

January 29, 2006
OrthoClear is successfully denouncing Align Technology's patent infringement suits stating "Invisalign suit is nothing more than "puffery." I take that to be a euphemism for bullshit. :-)  pardon my French.   [The link to the report was reactivated with permission of  OrthoClear responsibles.]