FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MAKO Surgical Corp. (Nasdaq:MAKO) today announced that it has obtained an Order Granting Permanent Injunction enjoining Blue Belt Technologies, Inc. from engaging a former MAKO employee and requiring the destruction of all proprietary MAKO business information in Blue Belt’s possession.
On January 30, 2013, Blue Belt announced that former MAKO sales manager Jeff Gellman had been hired as West Area Vice President of Sales. MAKO brought an action against Blue Belt and Mr. Gellman in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida to enforce the non-competition agreement between MAKO and Mr. Gellman and to prohibit the use or disclosure of MAKO’s proprietary information.
By court order dated April 4, 2013, Mr. Gellman is prohibited from working for Blue Belt in any capacity until August 2013, and may only work in a limited capacity thereafter until 2014. Furthermore, both Blue Belt and Mr. Gellman have been ordered to certify under penalty of perjury that all MAKO proprietary information in their possession has been permanently purged. The U.S. District Court retained jurisdiction of the matter to ensure compliance with its order.
“MAKO is pleased with the sweeping and substantial injunctive relief we obtained on an expedited basis,” said Maurice R. Ferré, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of MAKO. “We will remain vigilant in protecting the substantial investments made in becoming the leader in the field of robotically assisted orthopedic surgery.”
The Order for Permanent Injunction was entered contemporaneous to a separate settlement agreement among Blue Belt, Mr. Gellman and MAKO, which provided MAKO with the described stipulated order, along with additional relief and future protections.
About MAKO Surgical Corp.
MAKO Surgical Corp. is a medical device company that markets its RIO® Robotic-Arm Interactive Orthopedic system, with specific applications for partial knee resurfacing and total hip replacement, and proprietary RESTORIS® Family of Implants for orthopedic procedures called MAKOplasty®. The RIO is a surgeon-interactive tactile surgical platform that incorporates a robotic arm and patient-specific visualization technology, which enables accurate, consistently reproducible bone resection for accurate insertion and alignment of RESTORIS implants. The MAKOplasty solution incorporates technologies enabled by an intellectual property portfolio including more than 300 U.S. and foreign, owned and licensed, patents and patent applications. Additional information can be found at www.makosurgical.com.
