Smart phones and similar devices have very valuable patents and high-stakes patent litigation. There are also high stakes in medical devices. Read about this jury verdict below:
Jury Rules Medtronic Willfully Infringed TAVI Heart Valve Patent from Edwards Lifesciences
This story was published in Medical Product Oursourcing (MPO) at:
Medtronic Inc.’s CoreValve system infringes on a patent of Edwards Lifesciences Corp., according to the ruling of a federal court jury in Delaware on Jan. 15. The ruling, part of an ongoing legal battle between the two companies, holds Medtronic liable for $393.6 million in damages.
CoreValve is used in a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedure, a minimally invasive treatment option for people with severe aortic stenosis. It received CE mark in Europe in 2007, but is not yet available in the United States. Minneapolis, Minn.-based Medtronic expects U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval by the completion of its 2014 fiscal year (end of April). Edwards has had the U.S. aortic valve market to itself since November 2011. Analysts expect TAVI to be a $3 billion worldwide market by the end of the decade.
Edwards and Medtronic are the two largest players in the European market for transcatheter aortic valves. And, perhaps as a result, the companies are no strangers to this sort of court battle. They have battled it out in U.S. and European courts before about patents held by Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards.
April 17, 2014
See the article in:
http://www.massdevice.com/news/tavi-judge-chides-medtronic-edwards-offers-consolation-prize-infringement-case
A U.S. District Judge defends a ban on Medtronic’s newly approved CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve implantation system, saying the company willfully ignored the law in bringing the device to the U.S. after it was found to infringe on a patent held by Edwards Lifesciences.
Judge: Medtronic thumbed nose at the law in bringing CoreValve to U.S.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Sleet chided Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) this week after issuing a preliminary ban on the medtech titan’s CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve implantation system.
Judge Sleet wrote that Medtronic willfully sidestepped the law in bringing the device to market. He ruled late last week in favor of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW), granting an injunction to limit Medtronic from selling the devices in the U.S.
The ruling was a major victory for Edwards, coming after some 6 years of legal sparring, but it’s certainly not the end of the battle. Medtronic’s lawyers convinced Judge Sleet to grant a 7-day stay on the injunction as the company promptly pursues an appeal.
Edwards initially filed the infringement claim in 2008 against CoreValve, then an independent entity. Medtronic acquired the company in 2009 and a federal jury ruled in 2010 that the CoreValve device willfully infringed on Edwards’ “Andersen” (‘552) patent.