Sale of the patent to the USA

A breakthrough in the history of Polish medicine and innovation.

On 24 May 2007, an agreement was signed in Krakow that made a permanent mark on the history of Polish biomedical engineering. The Polish company LfC sold the intellectual property rights to an innovative lumbar spine implant to the United States market. It was the first time in Polish history that a medical patent had been sold to the US, the world leader in the field of spinal implantology.

The subject of the transaction was a proprietary method of minimally invasive, dynamic stabilisation of the lumbar spine – inSWing. The agreement covered not only the patent application, but also a complete know-how package, including: implant design, specialised surgical instruments, implantation procedure, training system for surgeons and clinical trial results confirming the effectiveness and safety of the method.

The author of the concept and main creator of the patent application was Dr Lechosław F. Ciupik – biomedical engineer, inventor and founder of LfC. The method was co-developed by eminent specialists from Poland and Belgium: Dr Robert Gunzburg (Antwerp), Dr Jerzy Pieniążek (Bytom), Prof. Marek Szpalski (Brussels) and Prof. Daniel Zarzycki (Zakopane).

The sale process on the Polish side was led by Jacek Cęcek, CEO of LfC and chief negotiator of the contract. Legal services and security for the international transaction were provided by Dr Sven Schilf (Berlin), an expert in intellectual property law.

The technology was acquired by the American company Orthofix (USA) – a global leader in spinal surgery. The American side was represented by Michael Finnegan (CEO) and Robert Goodwin (Director). The decision to purchase was preceded by several months of testing, clinical analyses and assessment of the development potential of the Polish solution.

The sale of the inSWing/LfC patent to the United States confirmed that Polish innovation had achieved global significance, and that LfC had made a lasting mark on the history of global spinal surgery.