Catheter Connections, a Salt Lake City-based start-up company co-founded by nurses seeking to reduce hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for a patent that broadly covers the company’s technology for disinfecting the connectors at the ends of IV tubing.

The patent will issue on Dec. 11 as U.S. Patent Number 8,328,767, the company said. It will be the fifth in the company’s portfolio.

The company was the first to recognize and demonstrate that the IV tubing connectors are a place where microbial contamination can occur and is a significant risk for hospital-acquired infections.