Medical device maker amends patent suit against rival

Medical device company Maquet Cardiovascular has filed an amended patent complaint against Saphena Medical and its former employee Albert Chin, adding claims of false advertising and correction of patent inventorship.

The amended complaint, which was filed yesterday, February 6 at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, addresses Chin’s alleged improper patent application which resulted in Saphena being improperly assigned US patent number 9,119,900.

Maquet also alleged that Chin, while employed by Maquet, had access to confidential work done by other Maquet employees on “endoscopic vessel harvesting devices and techniques”.

It claimed that this confidential information was used to file the patent application.

Maquet added that Saphena had been involved in false advertising in the marketing of its Venapax System, a cardiovascular medical device.

Maquet commented on the false advertising in a press release, stating that: “Among these statements are Saphena’s depictions of how bipolar RF energy—energy used to heat and coagulate tissue—is used in the Venapax System as compared to Maquet’s endoscopic vein harvesting devices.”

The company added that although Saphena has sponsored speakers who state that the device doesn’t result in charring of tissue, “videos of the Saphena Venapax System show it produces charring, as well as blanching, of veins”.

The original complaint was filed in December last year, alleging Saphena had committed patent infringement.

It also accused Chin of failing to maintain confidentiality of information at the end of his employment with the company.

Maquet is asking the court for an injunction, an award of Saphena’s profits on the Venapax System, as well as damages and costs.