District Court Invalidates KCI Patents and Renders Judgment in Favor of Smith & Nephew

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Advanced Wound Management division of Smith & Nephew, Inc., a subsidiary of Smith & Nephew plc (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN) today announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas entered a favorable judgment in the patent litigation brought by Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NYSE: KCI) relating to the Smith & Nephew RENASYS™-F (Foam) dressing kit. The Court ruled that U.S. patents 5,645,081 and 7,216,651, licensed to KCI, are invalid due to obviousness.  As a result of this ruling, the RENASYS™-F (Foam) dressing kit will continue to be fully available in the United States. This judgment overturns a previous jury verdict from March 10, 2010.

"We are pleased with the Court's judgment that KCI's patents are indeed invalid, which re-affirms our belief that our NPWT offering does not infringe any valid patents," said Robin Carlstein, Senior Vice President, Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Devices. "We look forward to continuing to compete in the dynamic NPWT market, providing clinicians and patients - the ultimate beneficiaries of this decision - with our wide and growing range of treatment options."

This judgment is consistent with court decisions invalidating KCI's related patents in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The RENASYS system enables clinicians to tailor NPWT to meet unique needs of patients and the specific requirements of their wounds, with clear improvements in patient comfort, ease of use and cost-effectiveness.

For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit www.smith-nephew.com.

About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business with global leadership positions in Orthopaedics, including Reconstruction, Trauma and Clinical Therapies; Sports Medicine; and Advanced Wound Management.  

Smith & Nephew is dedicated to helping improve people's lives.  The Company prides itself on the strength of its relationships with its surgeons and professional healthcare customers, with whom its name is synonymous with high standards of performance, innovation and trust.  The Company operates in many countries around the world.  Annual sales in 2009 were nearly $3.8 billion.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  In particular, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins discussed under "Outlook" are forward-looking statements as are discussions of our product pipeline.  These statements, as well as the phrases "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors (including, but not limited to, the outcome of litigation, claims and regulatory approvals) that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Smith & Nephew, or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.

All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date hereof.  All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew or any person acting on behalf of Smith & Nephew are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing.  Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Smith & Nephew's expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

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SOURCE Smith & Nephew

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