Flagstaff, AZ (October 29, 2008) - W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) has been sued by NMT Medical, Inc. and Dr. Lloyd Marks in the United States (U.S.) District Court for the District of Delaware for allegedly infringing U.S. Patent 5,108,420 ('420 Patent) through the manufacture and sale of its GORE HELEX Septal Occluder devices. Gore's unique patented life-saving technology is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to treat atrial septal defect (ASD) in the heart and has been used to treat thousands of children and adults worldwide since first entering clinical trials in 1999. Additionally, Gore has received FDA approval to begin clinical studies to assess the effectiveness of its GORE HELEX Device to close patent foramen ovale (PFO) in the heart.
It is Gore’s policy to never knowingly infringe the valid patent rights of others. With respect to the present litigation, Gore first learned of the claim of patent infringement only after NMT Medical and Dr. Marks filed their complaint on October 23, 2008. The GORE HELEX Devices do not infringe any valid patent rights in the '420 Patent. Gore would have welcomed the opportunity to explain this to the plaintiffs if they had been willing to enter into a dialogue prior to initiating the present lawsuit. Confronted with this lawsuit, Gore will vigorously defend its valid patent rights against these baseless claims of infringement so that it can continue to provide its important life-saving technology to patients with serious heart defects.
The Gore Medical Products Division has provided creative therapeutic solutions to complex medical problems for three decades. During that time, more than 25 million innovative Gore Medical Devices have been implanted, saving and improving the quality of lives worldwide. The extensive Gore Medical family of products includes vascular grafts, endovascular and interventional devices, surgical meshes for hernia repair, soft tissue reconstruction, staple line reinforcement and sutures for use in vascular, cardiac and general surgery. Gore was recently named one of the best companies to work for by Fortune magazine for the 11th consecutive year. For more information, visit http://www.goremedical.com.
GORE and HELEX are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates.