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    • EXPANDS PATENT RIGHTS ON LINERS
    • NIEUWE HOOG ACTIVITEITEN NIVEAU VOET
    • TRANSFEMORAAL GEAMPUTEERDEN
    • EARTHWALK^™ ENKEL LICHTER IN GEWICHT
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OHIO WILLOW WOOD EXPANDS PATENT RIGHTS ON LINERS

For nearly 100 years, Ohio Willow Wood has been dedicated to improving the daily lives of amputees. This corporate mission has driven the staff at Ohio Willow Wood to create innovative, new solutions ranging from the first dynamic response foot to the first fabric-covered, gel liner. In November, 2005, Ohio Willow Wood received further recognition regarding the ingenuity of their work.

On November 15, 2005, the United States Patent Office issued patent number 6,964,688 to Ohio Willow Wood. This patent provides intellectual property rights regarding the manufacturing, use, sale, or offer for sale of fabric-covered liners within the United States. In addition to this new US Patent, Ohio Willow Wood also received European Patent Certificate number 0762857 which provides intellectual property rights regarding the manufacturing, use, sale or offer for sale of fabric-covered liners within the European Union.

"These latest patents demonstrate the commitment that Ohio Willow Wood has to the development of solutions that better the lives of amputees around the world. Our company has invested millions of dollars in the advancement of prosthetic interfaces, and it is satisfying to have experts on intellectual property recognize our inventions," stated Ohio Willow Wood President, Robert E. Arbogast. "Without protection of our development efforts, we would be unable to devote the enormous resources necessary to advance the next generation of products that enhance the daily comfort of amputees."

Ben Elliott, General Manager at Ohio Willow Wood considers the new patents a further sign of the changes ongoing within the O&P industry. "Within any industry, companies who dedicate substantial resources to developing the next technological leap in products must be allowed to protect their ideas from imitators. Throughout the medical industry, investment in innovation is critical to improving the care of patients. Billions of dollars are being spent each year to create new medicines, procedures and approaches that improve the medical care of people. Those same trends are now growing within the O&P field as well."

"The role of intellectual property is critical for our future development efforts," says Jim Colvin, Director of Engineering for Ohio Willow Wood. "Under both United States and European patent law, the inventor of a new product has protection from competitors who try to make, use, sell or offer to sell the same idea for 20 years. The goals of these patent laws are to allow inventors to re-coup their development investment and provide an incentive for them to re-invest in further innovations. Without this protection, no company can justify the investments necessary to create new product ideas."

Ohio Willow Wood, located in Mt. Sterling, Ohio, is an innovative industry leader in the manufacturing and distribution of prosthetic products, including the Alpha® family of liners, the Pathfinder® foot and the OMEGA^™ Tracer® CAD system. For more information about Ohio Willow Wood and its products, please call 1-800-848-4930 or visit the company’s website at www.owwco.com.