07 Jun SurgiLance™ Prevails in Medical Device Patent Infringement Case

ATLANTA and NORCROSS, Ga., June 7 — SurgiLance Inc. today announced that it has won an appeal of a medical device patent infringement judgment.

The decision of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta brings to an end the four-year long dispute initiated by competitor Owen Mumford, Inc. (OM). against SurgiLance Inc. and its Singapore parent, SurgiLance Pte Ltd.

OM had claimed that the design of the One-Step Safety Lancet was in violation of a paper patent held by Owen Mumford.

On June 22, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) ruled that the One-Step Safety Lancet infringed OM’s patent, but granted SurgiLance the right to an immediate appeal.

Today’s decision reverses the district court’s judgment of infringement and directs it to enter judgment of non-infringement.

SurgiLance founder and CEO Patrick YiåÊis very pleased with the appellate court’s decision.

“This vindicates the position that we have held all along: that we invented our own product,” said Yi. “We researched the market responsibly and thoroughly, resulting in the development of our own unique design.”

SurgiLance Vice President of Sales and Marketing Alan Wells is equally satisfied with the ruling.

“We regret the time and expense that was involved in defending our position,” said Wells. “However, we are very happy that we can now focus all of our resources on our legitimate competitive advantages in the marketplace and continue to grow the business as we have done over the last four years, despite this legal distraction.”

Ed. note: This release was published prior to MediPurpose changing its name from its prior company name —
SurgiLance — in 2006.