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Smith & Nephew gets mixed results from English court on NPWT infringement claims
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The English Court of Appeal has published a decision in the long-running dispute between KCI and Smith & Nephew relating to negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). The full implications of the decision will be finalized in the upcoming weeks, according to a Smith & Nephew press release.
The Court of Appeal has found that Smith & Nephew has not infringed any valid claim of KCI’s patent EP 0777504 for wound drainage equipment. Earlier in the proceedings, KCI abandoned the main claim of EP 0853950 for wound drainage canisters. The court found that one of the sub-claims of that patent, covering the use of canisters in combination with reticulated foam dressings, is both valid and infringed. A sub-claim that could have covered the Smith & Nephew RENASYS canisters when used with gauze dressings was found to be invalid. Use of RENASYS G will not infringe either patent, Smith & Nephew noted.
The court has yet to rule on how this decision impacts the market. Smith & Nephew said it will seek to minimize the impact of the court’s decision on customers and patients who use the RENASYS system.
This latest decision relates to the UK market only. Smith & Nephew has achieved encouraging results in German court proceedings relating to the equivalent patents.