Mentor, OH–Steris Corp. has announced that it has settled the patent infringement lawsuit filed against Microflow Limited and Astec Microflow Limited (collectively, “Microflow”) in the United Kingdom’s High Court of Justice.

Both Microflow companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of U.K.-based Bioquell plc, formerly known as Kynoch Group plc.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which otherwise remain confidential, Bioquell and Microflow acknowledge that Microflow infringed STERIS’s VHP(R) patents by manufacturing and marketing Microflow’s Hyper-Phase hydrogen peroxide generator and its Hyper-Clean sterilization system. Bioquell and Microflow also acknowledge both the validity and enforceability of STERIS’s patent. Bioquell and Microflow have agreed to discontinue all manufacturing and selling of their Hyper-Phase unit and Hyper-Clean system, and will pay Steris an undisclosed sum in damages.

Steris filed the lawsuit in April of 1999 to enforce its intellectual property rights relating to STERIS’s vapor phase hydrogen peroxide sterilization technology. Hydrogen peroxide in vapor phase is an effective sporicide that decomposes into water and oxygen. STERIS holds numerous patents relating to its VHP technology throughout the world.

Les C. Vinney, president and chief executive officer of Steris, the successful prosecution of this claim is indicative of the company’s policy to aggressively protect intellectual property. “Steris considers its proprietary VHP technology an integral part of its product portfolio. We believe our VHP technology will play a critical part in the continuing development of STERIS applications to meet the processing needs of the markets that we serve,” he adds.?Mark A. DeSorbo