Smith & Nephew Endoscopy Patent Infringement Case Against Arthrex Proceeds to Oregon Court on June 13

Smith & Nephew SNN announced today that the next phase of its patent infringement case against Arthrex Inc. (Naples, Fla.) -- claiming that use of Arthrex's Bio-SutureTak, PEEK SutureTak and PushLock suture anchors infringe a U.S. patent owned by Dr. John O. Hayhurst and under exclusive license to Smith & Nephew Endoscopy -- will be heard this month in Oregon. A brief history of the case: The asserted patent (U.S. Patent Number 5,601,557) covers the use of Smith & Nephew's TAG™ WEDGE, TAG™ ROD, and BIORAPTOR™ Suture Anchors used primarily in surgical repair of the shoulder. In June, 2008, a jury in U.S. District Court in Oregon decided that Arthrex willfully infringed the asserted patent. The jury awarded Smith & Nephew $14.7 million for past infringement. In the spring 2009, The United States Patent & Trademark Office overruled Arthrex's validity challenges to the claims of this patent. In November, 2009, The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revised the interpretation of a term in the patent and sent the case back to the Oregon court for a new trial based on that revised claim interpretation. Smith & Nephew is seeking substantially more damages than originally awarded at the new trial which begins on June 13. Additional products from Arthrex's SutureTak and PushLock families of suture anchors were added to this dispute, as well as another lawsuit also pending in Oregon. "We will continue to protect our original products and intellectual property from companies we believe are infringing our patents and profiting from our innovation," commented Mike Frazzette, president, Smith & Nephew Endoscopy.