Zimmer Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ZMH) filed a lawsuit against three law firms waging an advertising campaign against the company’s NexGen knee replacement system.
The Warsaw, Ind.-based artificial knee maker is seeking an injunction for the Internet and television-based advertisements proclaiming that the implant “has a high failure rate, causes pain and is otherwise defective,” according to documents filed Feb. 16 with the U.S. District Court for the Northern Indiana.
Zimmer is also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages for the alleged "false and defamatory statements" in the Texas- and Michigan-based attorneys’ ads.
The company said that the firms are making the claims about its product "in order to attract potential clients for personal injury cases," according to court documents.
The lawsuit lists eight counts against the law firms, including defamation, wrongful interference with business relationships and trademark infringement.
Acclarent, Entellus settle
In other legal news, Entellus Medical signed a licensing agreement with Acclarent Inc., resolving patent litigation between the two companies.
Acclarent filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Maple Grove, Minn.-based Entellus, which makes minimally invasive therapeutic products for sinusitis, last July in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, according to a statement from Entellus. As part of the agreement, Acclarent will receive royalties and the companies will file a joint request for the termination of the patent infringement suit brought by Acclarent, according to the press release.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Acclarent makes medical devices, including the Balloon Sinuplasty system, for ear, nose and throat indications.
Entellus CEO Brian Farley called the resolution a "mutually beneficial arrangement" in prepared remarks.
Covidien faces employees’ class action suit
And Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) is looking at a class action suit over alleged non-payment of wages.
Current and former employees of Covidien and staffing services firms Kimco Staffing Services Inc. and KimstaffHR Inc. of Orange County, Calif., filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for Central California seeking restitution for allegedly unpaid wages and overtime pay and failure to properly calculate hours worked.
Plaintiffs Gerald Fleming, Robert Morales, Eddie Ramirez and Sergio Montenegro, all current and former "Materials Specialists," for Covidien, are seeking class action certification on behalf of other Covidien workers employed between August 5, 2006, and approximately Nov. 12, 2009.
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The plaintiffs were or are still employed at Covidien’s San Bernardino County, Calif. facility. They allege that Covidien and the staffing firms also failed to provide them with proper documentation concerning hours worked and their compensation. That allegedly led to non-payment and payment miscalculations, according to court documents.
The jury trial is set to begin July 26, according to the documents.
