A Medical Device Daily

ICU Medical (San Clemente, California) and privately-held Medegen (Ontario, California) have reached an agreement to end litigation in the Central District of California alleging infringement of a patent owned by Medegen.

Both companies reported that they are pleased to shift their focus from the litigation to their business relationship.

ICU Medical makes disposable medical connection systems for use in vascular therapy applications. Medegen is focused on infusion therapy products.

Last year, Medegen reported that it won a legal victory in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. The appellate court's decision reversed a judgment issued by a district court judge in the Central District of California of patent non-infringement entered in favor of ICU Medical (Medical Device Daily, Dec. 3, 2008).

Medegen argued that the lower court's decision inappropriately narrowed the definition of key terms of one of its patents (U.S. patent No. 5,730,418) covering a number of Medegen's novel inventions in needleless connectors, including the use of positive displacement technology, which reduces the occurrence of common vascular access device-related complications. The case was returned to the lower court.