VNUS Medical's Patent Lawsuit Against Laser Competitors to Procee...( SAN JOSE Calif. Oct. 3 /- The pat...),Health

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The patent lawsuit by VNUS(R) Medical Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNUS) against three endovenous laser competitors, Diomed, AngioDynamics and Vascular Solutions, is set to proceed to trial after the court's denial of summary judgment motions filed by both sides. In its motions VNUS had asked the court to decide before trial that the three defendants infringed the VNUS patents, while the defendants countered with their own motions seeking pre-trial rulings that the VNUS patents were invalid. The court denied all but one of the motions, deferring for later decision one of the defendants' patent invalidity motions. The court asked VNUS for an additional brief on the deferred invalidity motion because the defendants had raised a new argument in their most recent brief on the issue, and the court sought a response from VNUS before deciding. According to an order issued on Oct. 3, a decision is expected from the court sometime after VNUS submits its additional brief on Oct. 12.

VNUS CEO Brian Farley commented: "Although both sides would have been pleased to have the court grant their respective pre-trial motions, we look forward to putting forth our case in a full trial. We feel strongly that the more the court hears about the success of our technology and the impact it has had on patients' lives, the more compelling our case becomes."

ABOUT VNUS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Jose, California, VNUS Medical Technologies (Nasdaq: