US court revives antitrust claims against Align Technology

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 22 October 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO, US: A US federal appeals court has revived anti-trust claims against Align Technology arising from the company’s decision in 2017 to end software interoperability between its Invisalign system and intra-oral scanners manufactured by 3Shape. In a ruling issued on 5 October, the US Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit reversed a lower court’s summary judgment in favour of Align, allowing the claims to proceed to trial.

The case centres on a 2015 agreement that enabled dental professionals to submit digital impressions captured using 3Shape’s TRIOS intra-oral scanners directly for Invisalign treatment. The arrangement provided an alternative to Align’s own iTero scanners, which are integrated into the Invisalign workflow. In December 2017, Align announced that it would terminate interoperability in the US, ending the acceptance of TRIOS scans for new Invisalign cases from February 2018.

The ruling follows years of litigation involving the two companies. As reported by Dental Tribune International, Align and 3Shape had been involved in multiple patent and anti-trust disputes before reaching a confidential settlement in February 2022. The agreement resolved their direct legal disputes, but did not end the separate class actions brought against Align by dental practices and Invisalign patients.

Dental practices filed a class action lawsuit in 2020, followed by a separate class action brought by Invisalign patients in 2021. The plaintiffs alleged that Align had pursued a broader strategy to restrict competition in the aligner and intra-oral scanner markets. The plaintiffs argued that ending interoperability would make TRIOS less attractive to dental practices offering Invisalign and potentially limit opportunities for competing aligner manufacturers whose products could also be ordered through TRIOS. Their claims concerned not only the termination of interoperability with 3Shape but also purchasing agreements containing exclusivity provisions and a programme linking discounts on iTero scanners to Invisalign case submissions.

Court questions justification for ending interoperability

The lower court, the US District Court for the Northern District of California, had found that the termination of the agreement was supported, at least in part, by a legitimate business justification. Align argued that the decision was intended to strengthen its position in patent litigation against 3Shape and protect its intellectual property rights.

The appeals court disagreed with the lower court’s assessment of the evidence challenging that justification. In particular, the judges determined that factual disputes remained about whether the termination genuinely served a pro-competitive business purpose and whether the patent litigation had been used as a pretext for restricting competition.

The court cited internal company communications presented as evidence by the plaintiffs suggesting that ending interoperability could reduce competition. It also considered Align’s continued acceptance of TRIOS scans outside the US and its maintenance of interoperability agreements with other scanner manufacturers in the US. Taken together with expert testimony concerning the patent litigation, the evidence was sufficient to raise questions requiring further examination.

The appeals court also found that Align’s termination of an existing and profitable business relationship could support a claim of unlawful refusal to deal under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, a US federal anti-trust law. The ruling does not establish that Align violated anti-trust law. Rather, it returns the dispute to the district court for further proceedings, including consideration of whether the company’s stated justification for ending interoperability was genuine and whether its conduct unlawfully restricted competition.

Topics:

Dental Equipment

Tags:

3Shape 3Shape TRIOS Align Technology Aligner therapy Court cases Intra-oral scanners Litigation and legal matters US dental market

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