Gyrus Group Plc, the Reading, England-based maker of surgical instruments, fell 0.8 percent in London trading after U.S. surgical equipment maker ArthroCare Corp. sued for patent infringement.
Gyrus shares declined 3.25 pence to 400 pence. The stock has gained 6.5 percent this year.
ArthroCare, based in Austin, Texas, yesterday accused three of Gyrus’s U.S. units of infringing a patent covering electronic scalpels. On Nov. 14, the company asked a judge to stop Gyrus from selling products including devices called the jPlasmaKnife, used in tonsillectomies, and the laparoscopic Plasma Trissector, in a federal court complaint in Delaware.
The suit is “without merit,” and Gyrus “will vigorously defend its position,” Gyrus said today in a Regulatory News Service statement. The products “form a very small percentage of overall group revenues.”
ArthroCare sued Gyrus ACMI Inc. of Southborough, Massachusetts; Gyrus ENT LLC of Bartlett, Tennessee; and Gyrus Medical Inc. of Maple Grove, Minnesota.