QT Vascular issues update on patent-claim lawsuit

QT Vascular said on Monday its board had issued an update on the ongoing litigation against specialty balloon angioplasty company AngioScore, Inc during its annual general meeting on April 30, 2015.

The group said that CEO Eitan Konstantino had reaffirmed that the board's position on the information regarding the patent claim as stated in the initial public offering (IPO) document still remains valid and will not have a material effect on the financial position or profitability of the group.

The probability that AngioScore could obtain a permanent injunction against Chocolate PTA is minimal because AngioScore does not practise the '119 Patent, it added.

The company also believes that a new available design of Chocolate PTA will materially reduce the risks related to the patent claim on Chocolate PTA.

In its update, the group said the patent claim does not implicate intellectual property (IP) and that it is not at risk of losing IP (including patent applications) as a consequence of the claim.

The clarifications follow a patent-infringement lawsuit initiated against QT Vascular by AngioScore on June 29, 2012.

This was stated in QT Vascular's IPO document.

The proceedings were taken in the federal trial court of the Northern District of California, United States.

On April 29 this year, QT Vascular issued an update on the litigation including the patent claim and the state law claims. The announcement stated that the patent claim is currently scheduled for trial in September 2015.

AngioScore's claim is that QT Vascular's Chocolate PTA infringes the '119 Patent, a patent that claims a very specific design for an angioplasty balloon catheter and a non-deployable stent.