The Regional Court Düsseldorf has lifted preliminary injunctions issued for B. Braun due to patent infringement.
Düsseldorf/Germany. The Regional Court Düsseldorf has today lifted preliminary injunctions issued for B. Braun on November 20, 2009 against the companies Poly Medicure Ltd., Troge Medical GmbH and Megro GmbH & Co KG due to patent infringement. In these preliminary injunctions, the Regional Court Düsseldorf had found that the attacked products infringed the German part of the European Patent 1 911 486 and has injuncted their marketing in Germany. Subject matter of the proceedings are safety intravenous catheters with the trade name „PolySafety“ (in the sizes 14 G to 24 G), which are manufactured by the Indian company Poly Medicure and are distributed in Germany by Troge Medical and Megro under the trade name „TroVensite Saftey“.
The preliminary injunctions of November 20, 2009 were served upon the sued companies at the medical trade fair MEDICA 2009, and all infringing safety I.V. catheters there displayed were seized by a bailiff.
On November 27, 2009 the sued companies appealed the preliminary injunctions of November 20, 2009, and the Regional Court has held an oral hearing on January 21, 2010. With today`s judgments the Regional Court Düsseldorf has reversed its previous legal assessment of the facts and lifted the preliminary injunctions.
The B. Braun Melsungen AG, which comprehensively asserts its intellectual property rights, reserves the right to appeal these judgments. Further, it reserves the right to start proceedings on the merits against Poly Medicure, Troge Medical und Megro, in order to obtain an injunction this way. The B. Braun Melsungen AG is confident that the courts will injunct the marketing of the attacked products.
Background Safety Intravenous Catheters
The patent protected product of B. Braun is a safety intravenous catheter, by means of which patients are provided with an infusion or by which medicine is administered. The safety intravenous catheters feature a safety-clip, which, upon removal of the needle after use, automatically traps and retains the needle tip. By this, medical practitioners and nursing staff are protected from needle injuries and thereby from life threatening diseases, such as HIV or Hepatitis C.
