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18 June 2020Americas

MicroPort accuses rival of selling ‘knock-off’ surgical tools

MicroPort Orthopedics has sued rival  Medacta, accusing it of providing surgeons with “knock-off copies and defaced versions” of MicroPort’s patented surgical tools.

In a complaint filed last week at the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, MicroPort alleged that it had lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue from Medacta’s “illegal conduct”.

According to MicroPort, Medacta attempted to increase its share of the orthopaedic hip implant market with a “secretive campaign” to get MicroPort distributors to switch suppliers.

Medacta induced surgeons who were committed to using MicroPort’s patented surgical procedures to continue doing so, “only now with Medacta implants” instead, the complaint alleged.

“Medacta did so by providing surgeons with adapters for and knock-off copies and defaced versions of MicroPort instruments specially designed to perform the patented procedures,” it added.

MicroPort owns patents on surgical methods which the company says are “significantly less traumatic than traditional hip replacement” procedures, as they spare more key muscles and tendons.

This allows some patients to walk unassisted “within hours” of the surgery, the complaint said.

Medacta’s alleged plan to induce surgeons to keep using the patented method, but using Medacta tools, began in 2018 and had the support of its president, Eric Dremel, the lawsuit claimed.

Dremel even enlisted the support of a then-MicroPort distributor, Advanced Surgical Devices, to develop adapters for the “knock-off” copies, MicroPort alleged.

The three parties have previously been embroiled in arbitration and litigation over contractual disputes, which were again raised in the latest complaint.

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Europe
3 June 2020   Israeli generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals must face infringement claims related to an asthma inhaler, an English judge has ruled.
Asia
4 June 2020   IP firm Rouse will collaborate with life sciences service provider Codex to support companies looking to enter the Chinese market.