Negative pressure patents
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office preliminarily has labeled as "unpatentable" three of Kinetic Concepts' negative pressure wound therapy patents in a re-examination requested by competitor Smith & Nephew, according to Smith & Nephew. KCI now has the opportunity to respond to the decision within two months before the Patent Office makes a final decision. Smith & Nephew acquired negative pressure wound therapy firm BlueSky in 2007 (1"The Gray Sheet" May 14, 2007, p. 16)