McAndrews, Held & Malloy Secures Victory For American Medical Systems, Inc. and Laserscope
09.13.10
McAndrews, Held & Malloy announced today that it has secured a victory for its clients American Medical Systems, Inc. (AMS) (Nasdaq: AMMD) and Laserscope, a subsidiary of AMS, in a case involving a patent for a method and system for photoselective vaporization of the prostate and other tissue.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded for further proceedings a grant of summary judgment of noninfringement to defendant Biolitec, Inc. of East Longmeadow, Mass. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts previously granted the summary judgment to Biolitec, a subsidiary of Germany-based Biolitec AG. Based in Minnetonka, Minn., AMS is a leading provider of world-class devices and therapies for both male and female pelvic health.
The patent in this case, Laserscope’s U.S. Patent No. 6,986,764, covers methods and devices for vaporizing tissue by using laser radiation. The District Court had based its grant of summary judgment on its conclusion that Biolitec’s accused device does not perform “photoselective vaporization of tissue,” a term that is contained only in the preambles of the asserted claims, and therefore did not literally infringe the ’764 patent. In reversing the judgment, the federal appeals court concluded that the preamble language does not limit the asserted claims.
“Our clients are very pleased with this victory,” said Leland G. Hansen, a shareholder at McAndrews and lead counsel on the case. “The federal appeals court ruling helps protect our clients’ important innovations in medical devices and procedures.”
McAndrews attorneys Leland G. Hansen and Scott P. McBride represented AMS and Laserscope.