Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Responds to Allegations of Patent Infringement

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    ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Terumo Cardiovascular
 Systems (Terumo CVS) announced yesterday that it is responding to a patent
 infringement complaint by Maquet Cardiovascular LLC. The complaint alleges
 that Terumo CVS and its parent company, Terumo Corporation, had infringed
 on two patents related to the sale of the Terumo(R) VirtuoSaph(TM)
 Endoscopic Vein Harvesting System.
 
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061027/DEF004LOGO )
 
     Terumo CVS states that its policy and its practice are not to infringe
 on the valid intellectual property rights of any company. The VirtuoSaph
 system is protected by multiple Terumo patents.
 
     "Frankly, we're surprised at this lawsuit as these patents are several
 years old and our product has been on the market for more than three years
 with great success," says Mark DiClemente, Vice President, Sales, Terumo
 Cardiovascular Systems. "Our competitor has only recently entered the
 vessel harvesting market through an acquisition."
 
     Terumo CVS has sold the VirtuoSaph system in the United States since
 January 2005. The product is also distributed in Japan and Asia by Terumo
 Corporation and in Europe by Terumo's European subsidiary.
 
     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 manufactures and markets
 medical devices for the global cardiac surgery and interventional markets.
 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. For more
 information, visit www.terumo-cvs.com.
 
     Terumo Corporation is a premier global medical device company with
 annual sales in excess of 270,000 (million) yen for the year ending March
 31, 2007. 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