MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vascular Solutions, Inc. today announced that it has received a decision granting its motion for summary judgment in the twelve-count intellectual property litigation brought by Diomed, Inc. alleging various trade secret, trademark infringement, unfair competition, contract and tort claims related to the Company’s Vari-Lase business. According to the Court’s decision, all counts of Diomed’s complaint were dismissed with the exception of one trade secret misappropriation count and a portion of two other counts to the extent they are based on alleged trade secret misappropriation. Vascular Solutions’ counterclaim against Diomed was not dismissed and continues in this litigation. The Court has scheduled a status conference for this case on March 2, 2006.
Howard Root, CEO of Vascular Solutions, commented: “The granting of our summary judgment motion validates our position that Diomed has brought a multitude of charges that are simply unsupportable, even when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Diomed as was required here. We remain convinced that when all of the facts can be heard and considered at trial later in 2006, the one trade secret misappropriation claim remaining in the litigation also will be decided in our favor.”
In January, Vascular Solutions also filed a motion for summary judgment in a separate patent lawsuit brought by Diomed concerning the company’s Vari-Lase business. Briefing on that motion continues and is unaffected by the summary judgment decision rendered today.
ABOUT VASCULAR SOLUTIONS
Vascular Solutions, Inc. is a medical device company that focuses on developing unique solutions for unmet clinical opportunities within Interventional radiology and Interventional cardiology. New products introduced since the second half of 2003 include the Vari-Lase(R) endovenous laser product line for the treatment of varicose veins, the D-Stat Dry(TM) hemostatic bandage for the rapid control of topical bleeding, the Pronto(TM) extraction catheter for the mechanical extraction of soft thrombus and the Langston(R) dual lumen catheter for the measurement of aortic stenosis. The Company’s other major products include the Duett(TM) sealing device to rapidly seal the puncture site following catheterization procedures and the D-Stat(R) Flowable hemostat for the local management of active bleeding.
The information in this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Important factors that may cause such differences include those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and other recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the need for adoption of our new products, limited working capital, lack of profitability, exposure to intellectual property claims, dependence on key vendors, exposure to possible product liability claims, the development of new products by others, doing business in international markets, limited manufacturing experience, the availability of third party reimbursement, and actions by the FDA.
For further information, connect to http://www.vascularsolutions.com .
Vascular Solutions, Inc.
CONTACT: Howard Root, CEO, or James Hennen, CFO, of Vascular Solutions,+1-763-656-4300
Web site: http://www.vascularsolutions.com/
