Court upholds stent patent infringement

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. today upheld two separate 2005 jury verdicts that found Medtronic, Inc. and Boston Scientific Corporation infringed coronary stent patents owned by the Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company. Cordis now intends to ask the U.S. District Court in Delaware to reinstate the damages judgments of $271 million against Medtronic and $324 million against Boston Scientific, plus interest."We are very pleased that the Court of Appeals has recognized the validity of the prior verdicts," said Todd Pope, Worldwide President, Cordis Corporation. "We will urge the U.S. District Court to move expeditiously to reinstate the two previous damages judgments, along with the interest that has accrued during the appeals process."Injunctive relief is not an issue because the infringing Medtronic and Boston Scientific stents are no longer on the market. In March of 2005, separate juries found that Medtronic's GFX and Microstent II infringed Cordis' Palmaz (762) and Schatz (984) patents, and that Boston Scientific's NIR stent infringed the Palmaz patent. The Palmaz and Schatz patents relate to the fundamental design of the first coronary stent developed and introduced by Cordis.Both patent infringement cases were originally tried in 2000, with Cordis receiving favorable jury verdicts. After a series of procedural rulings and appeals, both cases were retried in March of 2005, with Cordis prevailing again.