CardiAQ, which performed the first ever Trans-Femoral, Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation procedure in June of 2012 with its self-conforming, self-anchoring implant technology, alleges that the subject matter of Neovasc’s pending European patent application is CardiAQ technology that Neovasc obtained from CardiAQ in 2009 and 2010 when the two were in a confidential supplier relationship. During that time, CardiAQ provided to Neovasc confidential information about CardiAQ’s TMVI technology so that Neovasc could fashion and attach valve tissue designed by CardiAQ to valve frames designed by CardiAQ. Without CardiAQ’s knowledge, and in express breach of the confidentiality agreement, Neovasc used that confidential CardiAQ information to not only develop a competing TMVI prosthetic, but to file patent applications on aspects of the technology in Europe and in the U.S. Through its pending patent applications, Neovasc is attempting to block CardiAQ from using its own technology.
In early June, CardiAQ also filed a lawsuit against Neovasc in Massachusetts in which CardiAQ seeks to preclude Neovasc from marketing a transcatheter mitral valve prosthesis that uses proprietary CardiAQ technology and from further prosecution of any U.S. patents in which Neovasc is seeking to protect confidential CardiAQ TMVI technology. That U.S. lawsuit is still in its early stages.
"We recognize that Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation has become one of the most competitive spaces in medical devices and will remain that way for years to come," said Rob Michiels, Chief Executive Officer. "As pioneers in this new field, CardiAQ set the standard for TMVI positioning and anchoring and we will defend our intellectual property and trade secrets vigorously. Thus, CardiAQ had no choice but to also file a lawsuit in Germany and, pending the outcome of that lawsuit, seek a temporary stay of Neovasc’s pending European patent application."
