European Commission opens first formal antitrust investigation in the…

The European Commission opened its first formal antitrust investigation into Align Technology for allegedly tying iTero intra-oral scanners to Invisalign clear aligners, restricting dental professionals' ability to use competing scanners. The case signals that interoperability and ecosystem foreclosure concerns—traditionally applied to digital markets—now extend to medical devices, and that technical design choices alone can trigger antitrust liability. If you make dental hardware or software that integrates with dominant players' ecosystems—scanners, imaging, aligners, CAD systems—the EU just signalled that technical gatekeeping alone is now antitrust liability, even without contracts. Build interoperability into your roadmap now, because your competitor's closed doors are becoming enforcement targets.