3M recently announced that Zirkonzahn GmbH has become the latest dental company to license 3M’s patented technology that enables the coloring of zirconia-based dental restorations.

This technology reportedly improves esthetics for patients by enabling the color matching of dental restorations to the natural color of the patients’ teeth. The license agreement resolves a nearly two-year patent infringement lawsuit between 3M and Zirkonzahn in Düsseldorf, Germany. 3M is open to licensing this technology to other dental manufactures and interested parties.

As the next step in protecting 3M’s patented technology, 3M has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Düsseldorf against Ivoclar Vivadent regarding its non-shaded zirconia CAD/CAM blocks and coloring liquids sold under the IPS e.max ZirCAD brand.

For more information, visit www.3mespe.com.