Marine Polymer Technologies, Inc. Awarded $29.4 Million in Patent Infringement Law Suit

DANVERS, Mass., May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Marine Polymer Technologies, Inc., a medical device company based in Danvers, Massachusetts, announced today that a federal jury in Concord, New Hampshire, awarded over $29.4 million in damages in a patent infringement law suit against HemCon Medical Technologies, Inc. based in Portland, Oregon. The court handed down its decision on April 29, 2010.

The patent law suit, which was filed on March 17, 2006, concerned biocompatible polymers that are used in hemostatic products designed to prevent severe blood loss. Marine Polymer sells, among other hemostatic products, the SyvekPatch®, which has been used in over 3 million cardiac catheterization procedures in hospitals throughout the country. HemCon, which obtained FDA clearance to sell its own products using the SyvekPatch® as a predicate device, sold infringing hemostatic bandages since 2003, primarily to the military but in the last two years also made inroads into the civilian market, directly competing with Marine Polymer.

Over the course of this four-year-long litigation, the parties disputed many issues including the meaning of the claim terms, and various non-infringement and claim invalidity defenses raised by HemCon. Last year, the Court found that HemCon's products infringe the asserted claims of Marine Polymer's patent on a summary judgment motion. This left as the only issues to be decided by the jury in Concord the validity of the asserted claims, and the amount of damages due to Marine Polymer for HemCon's infringement. On both issues, the jury sided with Marine Polymer.

"We are very pleased with the jury's verdict, which confirmed the validity of the asserted claims," said Sergio Finkielsztein, president and CEO of Marine Polymer, who was in the Court for the duration of the trial and testified on both issues.  "Our company was built on innovation, and new technologies we have developed since the early 90s and continue to develop to this day. We have a strong commitment to the protection of our intellectual  property, for which we have over 15 U.S. patents and many other corresponding patents in countries throughout the world. We are also pleased with the jury verdict on the damages we sustained due to HemCon's infringement."

Mr. Finkielsztein also stated that following the trial in April, Marine Polymer will seek accounting for HemCon's infringing sales in 2010, which were not included in the jury's verdict, and a permanent injunction to preclude further sales of infringing products in the United States.

SOURCE Marine Polymer Technologies, Inc.