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US Court of Appeals: Medtronic violated Edwards Lifesciences’ transcatheter heart valve patent
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today upheld an April 2010 federal jury decision that Medtronic CoreValve LLC willfully infringed Edwards Lifesciences’ US Andersen transcatheter heart valve patent, according to a press release from Edwards Lifesciences.
Additionally, the Appeals Court ordered the trial court to reconsider Edwards Lifesciences’ request for a permanent injunction that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of the CoreValve System in the United States.
The court affirmed the patent’s validity and the federal jury’s verdict awarding an initial payment of $74 million in damages to Edwards Lifesciences, which covers infringement through early 2010.
The patent involved in the suit is part of the Andersen family of patents that relates to a valve prosthesis for implantation via a catheter. A petition to extend this patent to 2017 has been filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
In a separate release issued by Medtronic, the manufacturer stated it is currently evaluating next steps. According to the release, the legal actions have no impact on the Medtronic CoreValve US pivotal trial, the Medtronic CoreValve SURTAVI trial or any other clinical studies evaluating the CoreValve system, and Medtronic does not anticipate any interruption to the global supply of the CoreValve. Applications for patent extension involve a review by two government agencies and can take between 2 and 5 years, the company said, and there is no assurance an extension will be issued or what the impact or duration of that extension would be.