A U.S. District Court jury in Marshall, TX, has awarded Dr. Bruce Saffran damages of $431 million in a patent infringement suit against Boston Scientific.
The jury found that the Natick, MA, company's Taxus Express and Taxus Liberté drug-eluting stents infringe upon Saffran's patent, ruling that the patent is valid.
Boston Scientific responded by asserting that the verdict is unsupported by both the evidence and the law. The company will seek to overturn the decision in post-trial motions before the district court. If unsuccessful, Boston Scientific will take its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The jury decision is Boston Scientific's second major legal defeat this year. In January, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Cordis of Miami Lakes, FL, won an appeal in its patent battle with Medtronic of Minneapolis and Boston Scientific over heart stent patents.
Cordis accused both companies of infringing patents on stents to treat heart disease in 2000. Cordis is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to reinstate the damages set in 2005 of $271 million against Medtronic and $324 million against Boston Scientific, plus interest.
Related Reading
Cordis wins heart stent patent appeal, January 11, 2008
Boston Scientific sells two more units, January 7, 2008
Boston Scientific to spin off businesses, December 14, 2007
Boston Scientific, GE complete EMR integration, November 7, 2007
Boston Scientific receives Cordis litigation verdict, November 2, 2007
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