U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted HemCon Medical Technologies Inc. the right to continue selling its hemostatic bandages by staying an injunction against the company.
The appeals court ruling also postponed the damages payment that the Portland, Ore.-based company was ordered to pay in an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit brought by Marine Polymer Technologies Inc. in 2006 over bio-compatible polymers used in its hemostatic products.
Danvers, Mass.-based Marine Polymer won an injunction from the U.S. District Court for New Hampshire in September, that barred HemCon from selling its HemCon bandage, ChitoFlex dressing and HemCon dental dressing “and any other products which are no more than colorably different from these infringing products,” for as long as the patent is in effect, according to court documents. A jury handed Marine Polymer a $29.4 million verdict in April, HemCon infringed the patent for “Biocompatible Poly-ß-I→4-N-Acetylglucosamine,” which MPT uses to make its SyvekPatch bandage, according to the documents.
HemCon is attempting to have both judgements overturned on appeal, a process the company expects to take 12 to 18 months to complete. The company said it believes the stay is an indication that it could win an appeal, in prepared remarks.
