Copan also has to bear the costs of the cancellation proceedings. Copan may appeal the decision.
This is yet another decisive setback for Copan. Last year, the District Court in Düsseldorf decided that Puritan’s HydraFlock® and PurFlock Ultra® swabs do not infringe another Copan utility model, DE 20 2004 021 930 U1. The claims of DE’930 are limited to fibers having a linear mass density in a specified range. The Düsseldorf Court unambiguously held that the fibers in Puritan’s HydraFlock® and PurFlock Ultra® swabs do not meet this limitation. The case is currently under appeal before the Court of Appeals in Düsseldorf (docket number I-2 U 46/14).
In any event, all of Copan’s German utility models relating to flocked swabs expired by the end of March 2014. Copan thus cannot seek to enjoin any sales based on these utility models or damages for any sales after that date. The effect of the decisions above is that Copan also cannot seek damages even for sales before March 2014 based on DE’930 or DE’932 once the decisions become final.
This latest decision further reinforces that Puritan and Puritan’s customers are free to sell Puritan’s HydraFlock® and PurFlock Ultra® flocked swabs in Europe without interference from Copan’s European patent or expired utility models.
About PuritanPuritan Medical Products Co., LLC, is an American company known worldwide as the trusted manufacturer of single-use products for the healthcare, diagnostic, forensic, critical environment, food safety, and drug manufacturing industries. Puritan manufactures all of its flocked swab products in their Guilford, ME, U.S. facility.