BioMedical Enterprises, Inc. Defends Intellectual Property

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BioMedical Enterprises, Inc. ("BME"), a San Antonio based medical device company and leader in orthopedic shape memory implants, announced today that it filed a patent infringement lawsuit on January 30, 2014 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas against Solana Surgical, LLC, a Memphis, Tennessee based company. BME is represented by Fish & Richardson, P.C.

In its complaint, BME alleges that Solana has infringed and continues to infringe United States Patent No. 8,584,853 (the "'853 Patent") through the sale of a line of products, including the Solana FuseFORCE Fixation System.  BME states that it has already been damaged by these acts of infringement and will continue to suffer irreparable injury unless Solana's activities are enjoined.

"Through great effort and ingenuity, BME has secured strong intellectual property rights to cover our unique bone healing technologies, and we will do all in our power to protect those rights," said Keith M. Peeples, President and CEO of BME. 

BME has asked the court to permanently enjoin Solana from further infringing the claims of the '853 patent, require Solana to withdraw from distributing all infringing products, and to award damages adequate to compensate BME for the damages it has suffered as a result of Solana's willful infringement.

BME's implants are fabricated from Nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy, and change shape when exposed to predetermined temperatures to provide fixation of bone or soft tissue to bone.  The implants are provided in sterile ready-to-use packaging for various procedures and markets under the brands: Speed™, HammerLock®, OSStaple™, OSSforce™, and Speed™ Continuous Active Compression System.

About BME, Inc.

BME is a reconstructive bone fusion product company and the worldwide leader in the understanding of memory metal and its orthopedic applications.  BME was the first company to introduce above body temperature shape changing memory metal staples to the U.S. and the first to develop and patent a method of controlling their compressive forces.  From design to manufacturing to marketing, all of BME's operations take place in its home office in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, visit www.bmeortho.com.

SOURCE BME, Inc.