Kurin, Inc. CEO Addresses Patent Infringement Lawsuit Brought by Magnolia Medical

We have had interested parties asking for clarification regarding the patent infringement case Magnolia has filed against Kurin. The short answer is: we are very comfortable with our position and, if the concern is regarding Kurin and its availability in your facilities, you should have no concerns.

First, the timing of the suit is not a coincidence. For the first year, Magnolia harshly attacked the Kurin Lock design, claiming that the diversion volume was too low to reduce contaminations and that because the Kurin Lock does not completely isolate blood it cannot work. With our continued clinical success these arguments have been proven false, and now they are undermining Magnolia’s reputation. Several Steripath hospitals, across the country, have recently switched to Kurin because they are getting the same or better clinical results and clinicians are much happier with the simplicity of Kurin. Unable to compete successfully in the market, Magnolia has turned to desperate allegations of patent infringement.

At Kurin, we respect the intellectual property rights of others. This is apparent in the design of the Kurin Lock, which is fundamentally different from Steripath in concept and operation, and which Magnolia previously claimed would not work.  The groundbreaking design of the Kurin Lock has itself been found novel compared to Magnolia’s patents and worthy of its own patent protection by the U.S. Patent Office. We firmly believe that the Kurin Lock does not infringe any Magnolia patent, and we remain confident that this position will be proven out in the courts.

Our team at Kurin has a great deal of patent litigation experience. At our last company, Ivera Medical (the Curos green cap designed to decrease bloodstream infections) we created a whole new class of medical devices and with our success many tried to copy us. We were involved in multiple infringement cases (both on offense and defense) and when the dust settled, we prevailed. We understand patent litigation and how to manage it, and we are confident that our patent team will serve us as well with Kurin as they did with Curos.

Based on our experience, we expect this case to take years to work through the system and candidly, it will cost a lot of money. With the good fortune of selling our last company, we have plenty of financial resources to follow this case through to the end. We see no impact on product availability, during or after the case, so please take comfort in that. If there is further information you need, please let me know and I will do what I can to help.

Bob Rogers,
CEO, Kurin, Inc.
bobrogers@kurin.com