A Medical Device Daily

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Ann Arbor, Michigan) responded to a patent infringement complaint by Maquet Cardiovascular (Rastatt, Germany) which alleges that Terumo Cardiovascular Systems and its parent company, Terumo (both Tokyo), had infringed on two patents related to the sale of the Terumo VirtuoSaph Endoscopic Vein Harvesting System. That lawsuit, filed by Maquet, was first disclosed last week (Medical Device Daily, Apr. 2, 2008).

Terumo said that its policy and its practice are not to infringe on the valid intellectual property rights of any company. The VirtuoSaph system is protected by multiple Terumo patents.

"Frankly, we're surprised at this lawsuit, as these patents are several years old and our product has been on the market for more than three years with great success," said Mark DiClemente, vice president, sales at Terumo. "Our competitor has only recently entered the vessel harvesting market through an acquisition."

Terumo has sold the VirtuoSaph system in the U.S. since January 2005. The product also is distributed in Japan and Asia by its parent company and in Europe by Terumo's European subsidiary.

The VirtuoSaph system is used during coronary artery bypass grafting, the most common cardiac surgery procedure. During the procedure, the surgeon removes a healthy artery or vein from elsewhere in the body, most often the saphenous vein in the leg, and uses it to route blood around a blockage in a coronary artery.

The VirtuoSaph system allows the surgical team to remove the saphenous vein using very small incisions. Endoscopic procedures have been shown to minimize scarring, morbidity and infection associated with traditional longitudinal incisions.

In other legalities, Candela (Wayland, Massachusetts) reported that the Western Pennsylvania Electrical Employees' Pension Fund filed a putative securities class-action lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts against Candela.

The complaint does not plead a specified amount of damages. Candela has reviewed the complaint, which it believes to be without merit, and the company said it intends to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.

Candela makes and distributes clinical solutions that enable physicians, surgeons, and personal care practitioners to treat selected cosmetic and medical conditions using lasers, aesthetic laser systems, and other advanced technologies.