Bovie settles patent infringement ligation with Salient Surgical and Medtronic

Mar 5 2011

Bovie Medical Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE Amex: BVX), a manufacturer and marketer of electrosurgical products, today announced a settlement to the June 10, 2010, action brought by Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc. and Medtronic, Inc. against the Company. In the complaint, the Plaintiffs alleged that the sale and use of the Company's SEER™ (Saline Enhanced Electrosurgical Resection) fluid-assisted electrosurgical device infringed on a patent owned by Medtronic and licensed to Salient.

The settlement calls for Bovie to immediately exit the monopolar and bipolar saline-enhanced RF device business (including Bovie's SEER™ and BOSS™) worldwide, and to acknowledge the validity and enforceability of Medtronic's patent in the U.S. and Europe, through February 2015. In exchange, Medtronic will make a one-time payment to Bovie of $750,000. Terms also include a provision for a possible OEM contract manufacturing relationship between Bovie and Salient. The Company already has a longstanding OEM contract manufacturing agreement with Medtronic for advanced electrosurgical generators.

Commenting on the settlement, Andrew Makrides president and CEO of Bovie stated, "After carefully weighing the considerable costs of continued litigation and the inherent uncertainty in this type of action, management concluded that this settlement was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. With this issue behind us, we can focus increased resources and efforts on our J-Plasma™ technology and other new products."