Inventor Files Suit Against GE for Fraud

Florida inventor, Kevin Dickenson, filed a lawsuit this week in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against General Electric Company and one of its divisions for fraud and breach of contract. Dickenson is the inventor of a revolutionary new medical and dental laser. His company, PanaRay Inc., was part of a $220M acquisition when GE acquired Panametrics, Inc. on July 23, 2002.

The lawsuit alleges that GE and its division agreed to fund the development, manufacturing and marketing of Dickenson's medical laser but, instead, GE systematically dismantled PanaRay, fired Dickenson, and took his invention for GE's sole benefit.

Dickenson and a partner developed a unique laser to drill teeth, cut bone
and perform advanced surgical procedures at the company's laboratory located in
Jupiter, Florida. According to Dickenson, the laser was tested on human teeth and
bone in conjunction with the University of California San Francisco, yielding results that far exceeded projections. "As soon as we had it working, GE requested our files and a few months later informed us it was shutting down the company and taking the technology we spent years developing,' stated Dickenson. Dickenson went on to say "this is valuable technology that will benefit both the dental and medical communities. GE agreed to put up over $7 million into product development and provide us with a manufacturing facility and marketing support in exchange for stock in my company, but ended up taking our technology after putting in less than $1 million."

The lawsuit alleges that Panametrics and GE failed to document their funding obligations to PanaRay at the time of the acquisition and, as a result, Panametrics' founders received more money for their company when GE bought it, and GE received valuable intellectual property for which it had not paid, leaving Panaray and Dickenson stripped of their technology, and without compensation.

Dickenson's attorney, Mary Morris of the West Palm Beach firm of Morris & Morris, characterized GE's actions as "regrettable" and said that "we hope and expect that GE will make a conscientious effort to redress the harm visited on Mr. Dickenson. Competition in the marketplace for new technology is good for consumers- particularly when the technology has the promise of this particular laser- but it must be undertaken fairly, and inventors must be compensated for their work."

Dickenson, unable to continue with work on the laser's development without the promised funding and without the laser prototype, is currently working at Prudential Florida WCI Realty in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.