US Patent and Trademark Office confirms validity of Smith & Nephew patent

LONDON, Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN;LSE:SN), the global medical technology business, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a decision confirming the validity of U.S. Patent 5,601,557 at issue in an infringement case with Arthrex, Inc. of Naples, Fla.

The patent in question, now expired, pertains to fundamental technology used to implant suture anchors to surgically repair the shoulder, including Smith & Nephew's BIORAPTOR™, FOOTPRINT™ Ultra PK and OSTEORAPTOR™ suture anchors.

Arthrex Inc. requested re-examination of the patent after a 2013 U.S. District Court ruling which ordered it to stop selling multiple products based on a 2011 jury finding that Arthex's Bio-SutureTak, PEEK SutureTak and certain Bio-PushLock and PEEK PushLock suture anchors infringed the patent owned by Dr. John O. Hayhurst of Portland, Ore. and exclusively licensed to Smith & Nephew. 

About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 14,000 employees and a presence in more than 90 countries. Annual sales in 2013 were more than $4.3 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN).

For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephewplc on Twitter or visit SmithNephewplc on Facebook.com

Forward-looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. For Smith & Nephew, these factors include: economic and financial conditions in the markets we serve, especially those affecting health care providers, payers and customers; price levels for established and innovative medical devices; developments in medical technology; regulatory approvals, reimbursement decisions or other government actions; product defects or recalls; litigation relating to patent or other claims; legal compliance risks and related investigative, remedial or enforcement actions; strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions, our success in performing due diligence, valuing and integrating acquired businesses; disruption that may result from transactions or other changes we make in our business plans or organisation to adapt to market developments; and numerous other matters that affect us or our markets, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or reputational nature. Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew are qualified by this caution. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Smith & Nephew's expectations.

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SOURCE Smith & Nephew

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