Our client, ICU Medical, Inc., of San Clemente, California, had developed an innovative medical valve that let nurses and doctors administer intravenous medication to patients without a syringe and without any “suck-back” of blood into the connector. As ICU’s intellectual property counsel, our firm had obtained Chinese patents a few years ago on this technology for ICU with the assistance of local Chinese counsel. ICU began selling the product in China through a Chinese distributor, China Medical Equipment Industrial Company.
Then, in the spring of 2005, China Medical discovered a knockoff product and reported it to ICU. The knockoffs were quickly traced back to a company known as Beijing Lepu Medical Device, Inc. The infringing device looked like ICU’s, but was less reliable. As a result, the infringer was poised not only to divert some of ICU’s sales, but also to discourage medical purchasers from buying any products of this type. ICU realized that it had to enforce its patent rights in China.
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