Been watching KCI for a Covered Call play for a week or so... GOOD THING I DID NOT DO IT! Jury verdict on a patent infringement has knock it down about 40% this morning.. KCI ANNOUNCES JURY VERDICT IN PATENT CASE SAN ANTONIO -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- August 3, 2006 -- Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:KCI) announced today that a U.S. District Court jury has found that the Wake Forest patents involved in the litigation against BlueSky Medical Group, Inc. and Medela AG are valid and enforceable. The jury also found that the patent claims involved in the case are not infringed by the Versatile 1 system marketed by BlueSky. The Wake Forest patents relate to KCI's V.A.C. technology used for the treatment of patients with serious, complex wounds. KCI intends to challenge the finding of non-infringement before the trial court and on appeal, and there are likely to be significant post-verdict motions and hearings. The Court has not yet set a post-verdict schedule, and will issue its final judgment in future proceedings. "The jury verdict confirms our belief that the fundamental intellectual property covering our revolutionary V.A.C. technology is valid and enforceable, although we plan to challenge the finding of non-infringement," said Dennert O. Ware, KCI's President and Chief Executive Officer.
KCI has never seen a price under $35 or $36 a share. A $35 Put was selling for $3.00 yesterday morning. The stock was at $42.70+ and has been above $40/share for the most part for several months. What were the chances the stock would drop to $24/share overnight? That $35 August Put looked real good since the odds of the stock dropping that much didn't seem too likely.