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Smith & Nephew announces German District Court’s findings on infringement case
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Smith & Nephew PLC’s Advanced Wound Management division announced in a press release that the German District Court in Düsseldorf has found that the company’s ALLEVYN Gentle Border product line’s adhesive wound care dressings infringe on a patent held by Mölnlycke Health Care AB.
“We are disappointed with this finding and continue to believe that the products of the ALLEVYN Gentle Border line do not infringe on any valid patent claim,” Roger Teasdale, president of the Advanced Wound Management division, stated in the release. “This finding does not make a ruling on the actual validity of the patent, which Smith & Nephew has applied to have revoked in Germany. Furthermore, this decision has no impact on any market outside of Germany and has no bearing on Smith & Nephew’s ability to sell any of the other products from the ALLEVYN dressing line in the German market. In addition, we are rolling out a new version of ALLEVYN Gentle Border in Germany, with equivalent performance to the current version.”
The enforcement of this decision will be subject to the findings of the German Federal Patent Court on the validity of the patent, the company reported. Smith & Nephew previously asked the German Federal Patent Court to declare the patent in question invalid. A court date for the nullity request has not yet been set.