Catheter Connections® Announces Expansion of Patent Coverage for IV Male Luer Disinfection; Sues Maker of Curos® Port Protector and Curos Tips™ for Stealing Nurses’ Invention
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Catheter Connections announced today the issuance of U.S. Patent Number 8,641,681 (the ‘681 patent), entitled Disinfecting Caps for Medical Male Luer Connectors. Coinciding with the issuance of the ‘681 patent, the Company filed suit against Ivera Medical Corporation (Ivera) in U.S. District Court in Utah. The suit alleges Ivera stole the Company’s male luer disinfecting cap technology and is illegally selling Curos Tips™ without the required FDA clearance for the current product.
Catheter Connections is a small company that began with the idea of protecting hospital patients from bloodstream infections. In 2006, the co-founding nurses conceived of a way to disinfect both ends of an IV catheter—the male luer and female luer access valve—using caps filled with isopropyl alcohol. Until the introduction of Catheter Connections’ product, there was no reliably safe or effective way to disinfect male luers, leaving patients at risk for infection. Two more patents will soon issue to the Company—one covering its male luer technology and one for an innovative strip product which delivers the caps to the point of care at the patient’s bedside.
As stated in the Complaint, “Competition is healthy, but stealing technology and cheating the FDA is not. Ivera has a long history of suing its competitors and using the Federal courts as its marketing department. There is no doubt of the harm caused by its infringement of the ‘681 patent and violation of FDA rules that are in place to protect patients from unsafe products. The injury to Catheter Connections’ business is great, so the Court is being asked for the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction to immediately stop Ivera from selling Curos Tips™.”
About Catheter Connections®
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Catheter Connections, Inc., develops and commercializes innovative vascular access products designed to protect patients from acquiring infections during intravenous infusion therapy. Designed by nurses for nurses, flagship product DualCap® safely disinfects both IV tubing end connectors and IV catheter access valves — a major breakthrough for infection control. For more information, visit www.catheterconnections.com.
Contacts
Catheter Connections, Inc.
Vicki Farrar, 888-706-8883
Founder, President & COO
vfarrar@cathconn.com
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