MedShape Invalidates Key Cayenne Medical Patent Claims

ATLANTA, June 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MedShape Inc., the industry leader in orthopaedic devices using advanced functional material technologies, announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued a ruling invalidating key claims of a Cayenne Medical (Scottsdale, Ariz.) patent. As a result of this decision, Cayenne Medical has agreed to withdraw its allegations of patent infringement and end litigation on this matter, and MedShape withdraws its challenges to the validity of Cayenne Medical's patent claims.

The patent in question was the subject of an infringement lawsuit first filed by Cayenne Medical against MedShape in 2014. In the lawsuit, Cayenne Medical asserted that MedShape's ExoShape® Femoral Soft Tissue Fastener infringed on Cayenne Medical patents claiming the fixation of soft tissue to bone.  MedShape disagreed and initiated a defense. In 2015, in response to Cayenne Medical's lawsuit, MedShape initiated inter partes reviews (IPRs) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) challenging the validity of the asserted Cayenne Medical patents. MedShape successfully urged the USPTO to review the majority of the Cayenne Medical claims asserted against it, but the USPTO rejected review of a number of claims due to the claims' ambiguity, or indefiniteness.  

MedShape used the IPR rejection of those claims to argue before the U.S. District Court that the claims were invalid based on their indefiniteness. In a U.S. legal first, the U.S. District Court agreed with MedShape and ruled those key Cayenne Medical patent claims invalid.  

Following the U.S. District Court's ruling invalidating the Cayenne Medical patent claims, Cayenne Medical withdrew their suit before the U.S. District Court with prejudice ending the patent infringement litigation and MedShape withdrew its IPR actions before the USPTO challenging the validity of the remaining Cayenne Medical patent claims. 

"This ruling and the path taken to get here demonstrate that MedShape has and will continue to vigorously defend our business, our freedom to operate, our intellectual property rights and our technology. It also means we will continue promotion of our excellent ExoShape ACL Fixation System," said Kurt Jacobus, MedShape CEO.

Designed for use in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, the ExoShape Femoral Soft Tissue Fastener is part of the ExoShape ACL Fixation System, which also includes a tibial component. Both femoral and tibial products leverage MedShape's innovative shape memory PEEK Alteraâ technology to provide strong fixation along with fast, simple deployment.

About MedShape Inc:

MedShape Inc. is a privately held medical device company working to develop and commercialize a portfolio of surgical solutions that use its patented material technologies to address the increasing demand for improved joint fusion, sports medicine, and musculoskeletal trauma products. For more information, visit: http://www.medshape.com.

ExoShape and PEEK Altera are registered trademarks of MedShape Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective holders.

Media Contact:
Jenn Pratt                                                        
Carabiner Communications
404.655.2273 
[email protected]                                     

Company Contact:
Kathryn Smith, Ph.D.
MedShape, Inc.
678.235.3304
[email protected]

SOURCE MedShape, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medshape.com