ST. LOUIS, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt Inc. (NYSE: MKG) and its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Nellcor Puritan Bennett, announced today that they
have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Masimo Corporation and one of
Masimo's manufacturers and distributors, Ivy Biomedical Systems Inc. The
lawsuit, filed Wednesday, November 17, in Federal District Court in
Wilmington, Del., seeks damages and injunctive relief for infringement by
Masimo and Ivy of three oximetry patents assigned to Nellcor Puritan Bennett.
"It is clearly evident from inspection of Masimo oximetry sensor and
monitor products, that they have copied numerous of our Nellcor(R) sensor and
monitor patented designs," said John Q. Hesemann, President of Mallinckrodt's
Respiratory Group. "We always prefer to resolve third-party infringement of
our patents without litigation, but Masimo's conduct strongly suggests that it
is intent on using our inventions and marketing pulse oximetry products in
complete disregard of our patents.
"We have no other choice but to seek legal recourse to stop this
infringement so that Mallinckrodt's and other companies' rights and motivation
to invest in research and development to advance medical technology that
provides better healthcare for patients will be protected and encouraged,"
Hesemann stated.
Pulse oximeters measure pulse rates and oxygen saturation in the
bloodstream to help monitor a patient's clinical condition and optimize
patient safety. Today, pulse oximeters are used in virtually all healthcare
settings, including emergency medical care, critical care, post-anesthesia
care, the general care floor, physician offices and the home.
The three Nellcor oximetry patents addressed in the lawsuit filed
yesterday are USP Re. 36,000 (covering adhesive sensors); USP 4,653,498
(covering oximeter audible saturation and heart rate signal); and USP
5,078,136 (covering oximetry signal noise rejection filters). Mallinckrodt's
lawsuit alleges that each of these inventions is used by Masimo and its
various manufacturing and distribution associates, including Ivy.
Last month, Mallinckrodt announced that it intended "to defend vigorously"
against a patent infringement claim made against it by Masimo. In that
announcement, Mallinckrodt said that its advanced Oxismart(R) XL technology,
which is motion-tolerant and allows oxygenation monitoring of adults and
neonates who are poorly perfused, is fundamentally different and distinct from
Masimo patented technology.
Mallinckrodt Inc. is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty
medical products. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, the company had fiscal 1999
net sales of $2.6 billion, operates in more than 100 countries and has three
healthcare product groups -- Respiratory, Imaging and Pharmaceuticals. The
Respiratory Group develops, manufactures and markets products that help
diagnose, monitor and treat respiratory and anesthesiology patients across the
continuum of care. The Respiratory Group is a world leader in pulse oximeters
and sensors, airway management products, critical care ventilators and
alternate care products. Mallinckrodt's website address is
http://www.mallinckrodt.com .
SOURCE Mallinckrodt Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.mallinckrodt.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/440950.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 440950
Contact: Media, Barbara Abbett, 314-654-5230 or e-mail,
barbara.abbett@mkg.com, or Investor, Barbara Gould, 314-654-3190
or e-mail, Invest@mkg.com, both of Mallinckrodt
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