AUSTRALIA'S VENTRACOR TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST FLORIDA-BASED HEARTWARE

International medical technology company Ventracor has initiated legal action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Heartware.

Sydney-based Ventracor's complaint alleges Heartware is "willfully infringing" two of Ventracor's established U.S. patents for its leading cardiac assist device, VentrAssist -- a left ventricular assist device currently in a pivotal clinical trial being conducted in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Ventracor's two U.S. patents relate to rotary pumps adapted for use as artificial hearts or ventricular assist devices. They cover a seal-less, shaft-less pump featuring open or closed impeller blades with the edges of the blades used as hydrodynamic thrust bearing and with electromagnetic torque provided by the interaction between magnets embedded in the blades and a rotating current pattern generated in coils fixed relative to the pump housing.