Pan Medical Ltd has filed a lawsuit in Italy against Medtech Development GmbH and Orthophoenix Delaware LLC, for invalidity and non-infringement of European patents EP1398765B1 and EP1104260B2, extending the non-infringement action to the German portions of the two patents. The court hearing the case is the Turin Court in northern Italy, with a first hearing fixed for June 2015.
Pan Medical Ltd has filed a lawsuit in Italy against Medtech Development GmbH and Orthophoenix Delaware LLC, for invalidity and non-infringement of European patents EP1398765B1 and EP1104260B2, extending the non-infringement action to the German portions of the two patents. The court hearing the case is the Turin Court in northern Italy, with a first hearing fixed for June 2015.
EP1398765B1 and EP1104260B2 relate to Kyphoplasty, a vertebral compression fracture treatment procedure that was already covered by two patents which were originally held by Kyphon Inc. and later transferred to Medtronic, and which expired in 2009. It is PAN Medical’s opinion that the two patents now challenged before the Turin court lack novelty in respect of the expired patents, and only aim at unlawfully prolonging a monopoly on Kyphoplasty. In fact, Orthophoenix and Medtech are Non-Practicing Entities; in 2013 Orthophoenix acquired around 500 patents including EP1398765B1 and EP1104260B2, and immediately begun filing lawsuits against most companies who had invested in the Kyphoplasty technology after the expiry of the two original patents in 2009, claiming license fees.
“We have been concerned for some time now of the activities of Orthophoenix and their agent Medtech Development GmbH in Europe where they have filed lawsuits against a series of medical manufacturers and distributors of balloon Kyphoplasty products,” comments Dr Max Nasralla, Founder and CEO of Pan Medical Ltd from their headquarters in Gloucester, United Kingdom. He continues to say, “Kyphoplasty has been monopolised already for over 20 years by Kyphon and Medtronic thanks to their patents which expired in 2009. Taking this monopoly further constitutes an undue obstacle to medical progress, preventing companies operating in the field to run their business and carry out research and development of new products.”
