B. Braun Unit Is Sued for Patent Royalties on Joint Replacements

Orthopaedic Hospital, which operates as the Orthopaedic Institute for Children, said B. Braun’s Aesculap Implant Systems is making artificial joints for knee and hip replacements with a specialized polyethylene developed and patented by the hospital’s researchers.

• Institute researchers developed an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene used for components of artificial joints, according to complaint filed Friday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware
  • Invention uses vitamin E to make the joints less susceptible to wear without causing oxidation, which can cause pitting and fracturing of the implants
  • Aesculap’s Vitelene implant products, and related implant products and surgical tools, are infringing ...