I-Flow Corporation Continues to Enforce Its Patent and Trade Secret Rights against Apex Medical's Solace(R) Pump Distributed by Zone Medical, LLC
LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
I-Flow Corporation (NASDAQ: IFLO) continues to enforce its patent
and trade secret rights against Apex Medical Technologies, Inc. and
its president, Mark McLaughlin, in the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California. I-Flow is also enforcing its
patent rights against distributors of Apex's Solace(R) Pump, including
Zone Medical, LLC. In view of early successes achieved in the lawsuit
in the Southern District of California, I-Flow will ask the Court to
rule, as a legal matter, that Apex, McLaughlin and Zone have infringed
the patent. I-Flow is also vigorously moving forward in the case to
protect its valuable trade secrets.
In response to the litigation brought by I-Flow, the defendants
asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine
I-Flow's patent. The Patent Office routinely grants such requests and
often times initially rejects previously issued patent claims. The
Patent Office has taken this action after receiving Apex's position on
the patent without input from I-Flow. I-Flow will now have an
opportunity to present its position to the Patent Office in support of
the patentability of the patent-in-suit, US Patent No. 5,284,481 ("the
'481 patent"). I-Flow believes that, once its position has been
presented to the Patent Office, the Patent Office will reconfirm the
patent as it did in 1994 when it issued the '481 patent. Indeed, the
primary prior art relied on by Apex, McLaughlin and Zone in the
reexamination process that I-Flow has not yet participated in, and
relied upon by the Patent Office in rejecting the claims, is in fact
technology owned by I-Flow.
"While we believe we have a strong case against Apex, it is
important to note that our success is not built solely around one
patent," said Donald M. Earhart, Chairman, President and CEO of
I-Flow. "Our success is based on a total package that includes a high
quality disposable pump, a patented silver-coated soaker catheter,
more than 60 clinical studies, our FDA-cleared indications that
ON-Q(R) significantly reduces the need for narcotics and provides
better pain relief than narcotics alone following surgery and, last
but not least, our unsurpassed surgical sales force that spans the
U.S. No other company in the market today even comes close to matching
the breadth of our quality product line and the strength of our
distribution. This is why we are the leader in this space."
I-Flow continues to believe that Apex, McLaughlin and distributors
of the Solace(R) Pump, such as Zone, infringe the '481 patent and
I-Flow will continue to protect its patent, as well as its valuable
trade secrets, in the Courts.
About I-Flow
I-Flow Corporation (www.IFLO.com) is improving surgical outcomes
by designing, developing and marketing technically-advanced, low-cost
drug delivery systems and innovative surgical products for
post-surgical pain relief and surgical site care. For more information
on I-Flow Corporation visit www.iflo.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement
Statements by the Company in this press release and in other
reports and statements released by the Company are and will be
forward-looking in nature and express the Company's current opinions
about trends and factors that may impact future operating results.
Statements that use words such as "may," "will," "should," "believes,"
"predicts," "estimates," "projects," "anticipates" or "expects" or use
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to material risks,
assumptions and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those currently expected, and readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. Except as required by applicable law, the Company
undertakes no obligation to publish revised forward-looking statements
to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated or subsequent events.
Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various
disclosures made by the Company in this press release that seek to
advise interested parties of the risks and other factors that affect
the Company's business. Interested parties should also review the
Company's reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and other reports that
are periodically filed with or furnished to the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The risks affecting the Company's business
include, among others: physician acceptance of infusion-based
therapeutic regimens; implementation of the Company's direct sales
strategy; successful integration of the Company's recent acquisition
of AcryMed Incorporated and further development and commercialization
of AcryMed's technologies; potential inadequacy of insurance to cover
existing and future product liability claims; dependence on the
Company's suppliers and distributors; the Company's continuing
compliance with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Medicare
Supplier Standards and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and Medicare's
and the FDA's concurrence with management's subjective judgment on
compliance issues; the reimbursement system currently in place and
future changes to that system; product availability, acceptance and
safety; competition in the industry; technological changes;
intellectual property challenges and claims; economic and political
conditions in foreign countries; currency exchange rates; inadequacy
of booked reserves or future impairment expenses; potential non-cash
purchase accounting adjustments associated with the AcryMed
acquisition; and reliance on the success of the home health care
industry. All forward-looking statements, whether made in this press
release or elsewhere, should be considered in context with the various
disclosures made by the Company about its business.
Legal Contact:
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Steven Nataupsky
949-760-0404
snataupsky@kmob.com
or
Company Contact:
I-Flow Corporation
Orlando Rodrigues
Vice President, Marketing
949-206-2619
orlandorodrigues@iflo.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
