Interventional device firm Guidant of Indianapolis reported that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware found on summary judgment that none of Guidant's stents infringed on any of the Boneau patents asserted by medical device firm Medtronic of Minneapolis. The court also ruled that Medtronic's S7 and Driver coronary stents infringe one of Guidant's Lau patent claims.
Medtronic filed suit in February 1998 alleging that the sale of Guidant's balloon-expandable coronary and peripheral stents infringed on the Boneau patents owned by Arterial Vascular Engineering, which was subsequently acquired by Medtronic. The litigation was consolidated with a suit by Guidant, filed in the same year, alleging infringement by Medtronic of Guidant's Lau stent patents.
In related news, the court also found that Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific's NIR and Express stents do not infringe Medtronic's Boneau patents. The court denied motions filed by Boston Scientific and Guidant for a summary judgment that the Medtronic Boneau patents are invalid.
Medtronic said that it strongly disagrees with the court's infringement decisions, and that it intends to pursue all available legal remedies, including its right to challenge the validity of the Lau patents and to exercise its right to appeal.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
January 6, 2005
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