US med-tech secures victory in drug transfer system dispute
Illinois court rules company’s syringe to drug vial system doesn’t infringe | System’s components can be used for other purposes.
An Illinois judge has concluded that Becton Dickinson’s system for transferring hazardous drugs doesn’t infringe healthcare company Baxter’s patents.
In an order handed down on Monday, August 22, District Judge Joan Lefkow of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted Becton Dickinson’s motions for summary judgment of non-infringement two patents.
Baxter had claimed that two components of Becton Dickinson’s PhaSeal system—the protector and the injector—had infringed three patents, each entitled “Sliding Reconstitution Device". The PhaSeal system is a suite of components that transfer drugs between syringes and drug vials).
Becton Dickinson has previously been granted summary judgment on the third patent.
Earlier this week, Lefkow said that Becton Dickinson is not infringing the two remaining patents in the dispute.
On one patent, Baxter alleged that Becton Dickinson directed or controlled users to follow its printed instructions “by conditioning the receipt of two benefits” on doing so (the benefits being safety and a warranty).
“Now, having moved past the pleading stage, Becton Dickinson argues and has persuasively shown that there is no evidence supporting either alleged benefit,” said Lefkow, adding that the PhaSeal system components can be used for purposes other than reconstitution and doesn't instruct users on the patent.
If an accused device is good for something else other than performing the method patent, the manufacturer is not liable as a contributory infringer.
On the other patent, Lefkow said that “the evidence is such that no reasonable jury could conclude that the device of an injector engaged with a protector infringes on one of the claim limitations”.
All claims were resolved in Becton Dickinson’s favour and the case has now been terminated.
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