Mountain View-based Heartflow has taken its fight over heart-scanning tech to federal court, accusing New York startup Cleerly of ripping off patented artificial-intelligence tools that turn CT scans into personalized 3D heart models. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Heartflow says Cleerly is infringing six of its patents and wants monetary damages, while also claiming a former Heartflow consultant helped build the rival products with proprietary know-how.
What Heartflow Says Cleerly Did
According to Reuters, Heartflow's complaint, filed as case no. 2:26-cv-00292, targets Cleerly's AI-powered cardiac imaging products and alleges they infringe six Heartflow patents. The filing says technology copied from Heartflow was used to help launch Cleerly's business and specifically names a former Heartflow consultant. Heartflow is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, and its lawyers at Mayer Brown are listed as counsel in the Texas federal case.
Founder In The Crosshairs
Bloomberg Law reports the suit singles out James Min, who founded Cleerly in 2017 and previously served as a consultant to Heartflow from 2012 to 2017. Heartflow alleges that Min or others misused patented components of its AI algorithms when developing Cleerly's products, a claim the company’s lawyers frame as a striking example of what they call "technological piracy" in medtech. If the court agrees that Cleerly infringed, Heartflow may look for an injunction on top of damages in order to protect its commercial lead.
AI Heart Scan Rivals In A Tight Race
Heartflow's platform, according to its investor materials, uses a single specialized coronary CT angiography scan to create a personalized 3D heart model that physicians use to assess blood flow and plaque. Cleerly similarly promotes AI analysis of CCTA scans that it says can quantify plaque and ischemia, as described on its product pages. Both companies are competing for FDA clearances, insurer coverage and hospital adoption at a moment when noninvasive cardiac diagnostics are gaining momentum.
What The Companies Are Saying, Or Not Saying
Reuters reports that Cleerly did not respond to its requests for comment on the lawsuit. Heartflow, for its part, told Reuters it developed the Heartflow platform and takes protection of its intellectual property seriously. The case will move forward in the Eastern District of Texas, where the first rounds of filings and early motions are expected to spell out the precise scope of the claims and the timetable for what comes next.
Why This Fight Matters Beyond The Courtroom
Patent battles like this can slow new medical products and push rivals into licensing deals or court-imposed limits on sales, a pattern Bloomberg Law notes in its coverage of Heartflow's complaint. For hospitals and clinicians trying to decide which AI tools to trust, the dispute raises uncomfortable questions about which CCTA-based platforms will actually stay on the market and how competition will shape access to these noninvasive options.
Upcoming court filings, from initial scheduling orders to any early motions, will determine whether Heartflow pushes for preliminary relief or focuses on a longer-term damages fight. As the docket fills out over the next few weeks, the legal and commercial stakes for both sides should come into much sharper focus.
