Smith & Nephew plc Announces NPWT Patent Decision

LONDON--(Marketwire - May 01, 2009) -

Smith & Nephew Encouraged by United Kingdom NPWT Patent Court Decision


Hull, United Kingdom -1 May, 2009 - Smith & Nephew's Advanced Wound
Management business (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN) announces that the Patents
Court, in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, has ruled
as invalid 7 out of the 10 claims asserted against Smith & Nephew of
the Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) patent EP 0620720, that is
licensed to Kinetic Concepts, Inc (KCI) (NYSE: KCI).  The 3 other claims
asserted in the patent remain in effect in the United Kingdom.  The
decision is subject to appeal and Smith & Nephew will be pursuing its
appeal to invalidate those three claims as a matter of urgency.


Smith & Nephew is pleased that this judgement has invalidated the main
claim of the EP 0620720 patent.  This complements the German
decision of March 2009 where at the Federal Munich Patent Court
the court ruled (subject to appeal) that all claims
of the patent are invalid."We will continue to serve the United Kingdom
NPWT market and offer the
new RENASYS* EZ, RENASYS* GO and RENASYS*-G (gauze) NPWT products.
 Smith & Nephew remains committed to our strategy to ensure that
clinicians have a range of treatment options.  This ruling has no
impact on Smith & Nephew's ability to sell gauze-based NPWT systems,
and we will continue our efforts to ensure that clinicians have options
in NPWT. We intend to pursue the remaining asserted claims as a matter
of urgency," said Robin Carlstein, Senior Vice President of Advanced
Wound Devices at Smith & Nephew.


Inquiries
Investors & Analysts
Liz Hewitt        +44 (0)20 7401 7646
Group Director Corporate Affairs
Smith & Nephew

Media
Robin Carlstein   +1 727 399 3746
Senior Vice President
Advanced Wound Devices
Smith & Nephew


About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specializing in
Orthopaedics, including Reconstruction, Trauma and Clinical Therapies,
Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management. Smith & Nephew is a global
leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one of the
leading global orthopaedics companies.


Smith & Nephew is dedicated to helping improve people's lives. The
Company prides itself on the strength of its relationships with its
surgeons and professional healthcare customers, with whom its name is
synonymous with high standards of performance, innovation and trust.
The Company operates in 32 countries around the world. Annual sales in
2008 were nearly USD3.8 billion.


* Trademark of Smith & Nephew. Certain marks registered US Patent and
Trademark Office.


Forward-Looking Statements


This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
In particular, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading
margins discussed under "Outlook" are forward-looking statements as are
discussions of our product pipeline. These statements, as well as the
phrases "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed","believe",
"estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar
expressions, are generally intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors (including, but not
limited to, the outcome of litigation, claims and regulatory approvals)
that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
Smith & Nephew, or industry results, to differ materially from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. Please refer to the documents that
Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20F, for a
discussion of certain of these factors.


All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date hereof. All
written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith &
Nephew or any person acting on behalf of Smith & Nephew are expressly
qualified in their entirety by the foregoing. Smith & Nephew does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statement contained herein to reflect any change in Smith & Nephew's
expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.



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