OrbusNeich Files Patent Infringement Actions Against Boston Scientific in Germany and the Netherlands

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- OrbusNeich today announced that OrbusNeich Medical GmbH and Orbus International B.V., subsidiaries of OrbusNeich Medical, Inc., (collectively, "OrbusNeich") have commenced patent infringement actions in Germany and The Netherlands against Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) ("Boston Scientific") and its distribution affiliates in those countries.

The Complaints allege that Boston Scientific infringed two European patents covering certain novel stent designs.  The two patents, held by OrbusNeich, are designated EP 2 311 412 and EP 1 341 482.  OrbusNeich alleges that these patents are infringed by several of Boston Scientific's coronary stent systems, including the "PROMUS Element™", "PROMUS Element™ Plus", "OMEGA™ PtCr", and "TAXUS™ Element™" lines of stents.

OrbusNeich is seeking, among other things, a preliminary injunction prohibiting Boston Scientific from marketing and selling the infringing stents in Germany and The Netherlands.  OrbusNeich also seeks damages for all sales of infringing products and a recall of commercially distributed, but not yet used stents in the Netherlands and to seize commercially distributed, but not yet used stents that are still in the possession of Boston Scientific in Germany.

"We will take all necessary actions to protect OrbusNeich from unlawful competitive practices," said Al Novak, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OrbusNeich.  "Through these proceedings, we are seeking to safeguard these technologies for the benefit of our physician customers and their patients as well as our investors and employees."

On February 11, 2013, OrbusNeich received a favorable ruling from the European Patent Office (EPO) in connection with EP 1 341 482, one of the two patents asserted against Boston Scientific in these lawsuits. The EPO upheld the validity of claim 1 of the '482 patent, as amended, over an opposition filed by Boston Scientific  and Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha.  The EPO found that claim 1 of the '482 patent met all requirements of the European Patent Convention, and that the stents covered by the claim were novel and inventive over the prior art.

A patent infringement action was also filed by OrbusNeich in the United States in 2009. That suit has currently been stayed pending review of the patents under re-examination procedures in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The Company notes that it is also reviewing its options with respect to this litigation. 

About OrbusNeich

OrbusNeich is a global company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical devices for the treatment of vascular diseases. Current products are the world's first pro-healing stent, the Genous™ Stent, as well as other stents and balloons marketed under the names of Azule™, R stent™, Scoreflex™, Sapphire™, Sapphire II™ and Sapphire NC™. Development stage products include the COMBO Dual Therapy Stent™, the world's first dual therapy stent. OrbusNeich is headquartered in Hong Kong and has operations in Shenzhen, China; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Hoevelaken, The Netherlands; and Tokyo, Japan. OrbusNeich supplies medical devices to interventional cardiologists in more than 60 countries. For more information, visit www.OrbusNeich.com.

Follow OrbusNeich on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OrbusNeich, and learn more about the company and its innovative technology on OrbusNeich's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/OrbusNeichMedia.

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SOURCE OrbusNeich