B. Braun Obtains Permanent Injunction

BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Germany-based medical device manufacturer B. Braun Melsungen AG and its U.S. subsidiary B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun) announced today that the company succeeded in obtaining a permanent injunction in its patent infringement case against Japan's Terumo Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary Terumo Medical Corporation.

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On April 21, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted an immediate and permanent order, stopping Japan's Terumo Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary Terumo Medical Corporation from selling, or offering to sell, the Surshield® Safety IV Catheter in the acute care market, and precluding Terumo from bidding against B. Braun on expiring GPO contracts. Terumo will be permitted to continue selling the Surshield Safety IV Catheter into the alternative care market until June 1, 2012 after which it cannot make, sell, use or offer the Surshield Safety Catheter in the U.S.  B. Braun will seek damages and other relief for Terumo's infringement.

B. Braun's win follows a previous verdict awarded in November 2010, confirming the validity of an infringed claim of B. Braun's 2007 patent (U.S. Patent 7,264,613) for its Introcan Safety® IV Catheter.

About B. Braun's Introcan Safety® IV Catheter

B. Braun's Introcan Safety® IV Catheter, a passive, fully automatic safety device, designed to help protect against accidental needlestick injuries (NSIs). NSIs and other sharps injuries expose hundreds of thousands of healthcare providers each year to serious blood borne pathogens like hepatitis C and HIV. With the Introcan Safety® IV Catheter, the safety device is activated automatically and cannot be bypassed.

A recent landmark study conducted by GERES (Groupe d'Etude sur le Risque d'Exposition des Soignants) of 22 million safety devices used in 61 French hospitals over a two-year period has confirmed the theory that passive, fully automatic safety devices like B. Braun's Introcan Safety® IV Catheter offer significantly better protection against NSIs than early generation active safety technologies such as semi-automatic (push-button) devices or those with manually sliding shields or hinged caps.

For more information about B. Braun's Introcan Safety® IV Catheter visit http://introcansafety.bbraunusa.com.  

About B. Braun

B. Braun is a leading manufacturer of infusion therapy and pain management products with an environmentally-friendly focus. Guided by the company's "Sharing Expertise®" philosophy,

B. Braun addresses the critical issues of infection prevention, medication safety and environmental responsibility by promoting best practices that help clinicians reduce medication errors, prevent healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) and achieve sustainability objectives.

Consistently recognized by Frost & Sullivan and KLAS for its medical technology and support services, B. Braun employees share their knowledge with colleagues and customers to improve working processes in hospitals and medical practices and to enhance the safety of patients and healthcare professionals. For more information, call 800-227-2862, email us at [email protected] or visit B. Braun at www.bbraunusa.com.

SOURCE B. Braun