Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Files Patent Infringement Complaint Against Maquet ...( ANN ARBOR Mich. July 9 /- Terumo ...)

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Terumo CVS) announced that it has filed a patent infringement complaint in Germany against two affiliates of Maquet Cardiovascular LLC: Maquet GmbH & Co. KG and Maquet Vertriebs und Service Deutschland GmbH. The complaint alleges that two Maquet products, Vasoview(R) 6 and Vasoview(R) 7 Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting Systems, infringe a patent for which Terumo CVS owns the rights in Germany. The complaint also requests an injunction against further sales of the product there.

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Terumo CVS sells the VirtuoSaph(TM) Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting System in the United States. The VirtuoSaph system is distributed in Japan and Asia by Terumo Corporation and in Europe by Terumo's European subsidiary.

"Terumo respects the valid intellectual property of others and expects that its competitors will do the same," said Mark Sutter, President and CEO, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems.

The VirtuoSaph system is used during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), 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.

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of medical devices for cardiac and vascular surgery. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan with manufacturing operations in Ann Arbor; Elkton, Maryland; Ashland, Massachusetts; and Tustin, California. It
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