Heartflow sues rival Cleerly over AI cardiology technology

ReutersApr 13, 2026 9:32 PM

By Blake Brittain

April 13 (Reuters) - Medical technology company Heartflow HTFL.O sued rival Cleerly in Texas federal court on Monday, alleging Cleerly misused patented technology related to Heartflow's artificial-intelligence-based heart disease diagnostic software.

The lawsuit said a former Heartflow consultant used technology copied from the company to launch Cleerly, which uses AI for heart attack prevention.

The medical technology field is fertile ground for high-stakes patent disputes. Heartflow's patents cover innovations for using AI with medical imaging technology to diagnose heart disease in a non-invasive way.

Cleerly founder and CEO James Min said in a statement that the company is confident in the originality of its technology, which he said was based on "landmark clinical science" it has published on cardiovascular disease.

"Our team has worked tirelessly since 2010 to develop the Heartflow Platform, a first-of-its-kind AI solution that has been used to detect and manage coronary artery disease," Heartflow CEO John Farquhar said in a statement. "We take seriously our responsibility to protect the intellectual property that supports this field."

Mountain View, California-based Heartflow, backed by Bain Capital, was valued at $2.27 billion in its Nasdaq debut last year. Its AI-enabled products can create a personalized 3D model of a patient's heart via a single specialized scan.

Min was a Heartflow consultant from 2012 to 2017, according to the complaint. The lawsuit said that Min secretly created Cleerly in 2017 while he still worked for Heartflow.

Heartflow said that New York-based Cleerly's competing AI-powered cardiac imaging products infringe six patents covering its platform. It asked the court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages.

The case is Heartflow Inc v. Cleerly Inc, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 2:26-cv-00292.

For Heartflow: Saqib Siddiqui, Jamie Beaber, William Barrow, James Fussell and Michael Lindinger of Mayer Brown

For Cleerly: Not yet available

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