Boston Scientific ordered to pay Medtronic $250M over catheter patents
Medtronic reported Tuesday that it has been awarded $250 million in damages in a catheter patent infringement case against Boston Scientific after a federal jury in Texas found that the latter had infringed three of Medtronic’s catheter patents.
The Minneapolis-based Medtronic sued the Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific in 2006, alleging that Boston Scientific’s Taxus Express2, Express2, Liberte, Maverick, Maverick2 and Quantum Maverick products infringed its Fitzmaurice and Anderson catheter patents.
Medtronic’s Fitzmaurice patents cover angioplasty catheters with narrowed distal ends, which improve the deliverability of angioplasty catheters. The Anderson patent covers semicompliant angioplasty balloons, which can withstand repeated inflations allowing custom vessel sizing, according to the company.
“The jury in Marshall, Texas, delivered its verdict today after a week-long trial and concluded the infringement was intentional, giving U.S. District Judge T. John Ward the option to increase the award by as much as three times to $750 million,” Marybeth Thorsgaard, a Medtronic spokeswoman, told Bloomberg.
Medtronic said it may seek an injunction, forcing Boston Scientific to halt its sales of the infringing products.
The trial, which began May 16, produced the third largest patent verdict of 2008.
In February, a U.S. District Court jury in Marshall, Texas, ordered Boston Scientific to pay New Jersey radiologist, Bruce Saffran, MD, damages of $431 million in a stent patent infringement suit.
The Minneapolis-based Medtronic sued the Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific in 2006, alleging that Boston Scientific’s Taxus Express2, Express2, Liberte, Maverick, Maverick2 and Quantum Maverick products infringed its Fitzmaurice and Anderson catheter patents.
Medtronic’s Fitzmaurice patents cover angioplasty catheters with narrowed distal ends, which improve the deliverability of angioplasty catheters. The Anderson patent covers semicompliant angioplasty balloons, which can withstand repeated inflations allowing custom vessel sizing, according to the company.
“The jury in Marshall, Texas, delivered its verdict today after a week-long trial and concluded the infringement was intentional, giving U.S. District Judge T. John Ward the option to increase the award by as much as three times to $750 million,” Marybeth Thorsgaard, a Medtronic spokeswoman, told Bloomberg.
Medtronic said it may seek an injunction, forcing Boston Scientific to halt its sales of the infringing products.
The trial, which began May 16, produced the third largest patent verdict of 2008.
In February, a U.S. District Court jury in Marshall, Texas, ordered Boston Scientific to pay New Jersey radiologist, Bruce Saffran, MD, damages of $431 million in a stent patent infringement suit.