Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Files Patent Infringement Complaint Against Maquet Affiliates

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A F ILITCH HOLDINGS FOXTOWN TIGERS TRAIN LOGO ILITCH HOLDINGS FOXTOWN TIGERS TRAIN LOGO Foxtown Tigers Train logo. (PRNewsFoto/ILITCH HOLDINGS, INC.)[TK] DETROIT, MI UNITED STATES 07/28/2006

    ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Terumo Cardiovascular Systems
 (Terumo CVS) announced that it has filed a patent infringement complaint in
 Germany against two affiliates of Maquet Cardiovascular LLC: Maquet GmbH &
 Co. KG and Maquet Vertriebs und Service Deutschland GmbH. The complaint
 alleges that two Maquet products, Vasoview(R) 6 and Vasoview(R) 7
 Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting Systems, infringe a patent for which Terumo
 CVS owns the rights in Germany. The complaint also requests an injunction
 against further sales of the product there.
 
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061027/DEF004LOGO )
 
     Terumo CVS sells the VirtuoSaph(TM) Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting System
 in the United States. The VirtuoSaph system is distributed in Japan and
 Asia by Terumo Corporation and in Europe by Terumo's European subsidiary.
 
     "Terumo respects the valid intellectual property of others and expects
 that its competitors will do the same," said Mark Sutter, President and
 CEO, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems.
 
     The VirtuoSaph system is used during coronary artery bypass grafting
 (CABG), the most common cardiac surgery procedure. During the procedure,
 the surgeon removes a healthy artery or vein from elsewhere in the body,
 most often the saphenous vein in the leg, and uses it to route blood around
 a blockage in a coronary artery. The VirtuoSaph system allows the surgical
 team to remove the saphenous vein using very small incisions. Endoscopic
 procedures have been shown to minimize scarring, morbidity and infection
 associated with traditional longitudinal incisions.
 
     Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation is a global manufacturer and
 marketer of medical devices for cardiac and vascular surgery. The company
 is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan with manufacturing operations in
 Ann Arbor; Elkton, Maryland; Ashland, Massachusetts; and Tustin,
 California. It is one of several subsidiaries of Terumo Corporation of
 Japan focused exclusively on the cardiac and vascular markets, including
 Terumo Heart Inc., developer of a ventricular assist device, and Vascutek,
 Ltd, leading manufacturer of vascular grafts. For more information, visit
 www.terumo-cvs.com .
 
     Terumo Corporation is a premier global medical device company with
 annual sales of nearly three billion dollars for the year ending March 31,
 2008. Founded in 1921, the company develops, manufactures and distributes
 world-class medical devices for use in cardiothoracic surgery,
 interventional procedures, transfusion medicine, and needle and syringe
 products.
 
 
 

SOURCE Terumo Cardiovascular Systems