Women's imaging firm Hologic has lost an appeal to uphold its patent for a method to detect perforations during uterine ablation -- a patent originally contested by medical technology company Minerva Surgical, according to an article in Mass Device.
In the case, Minerva Surgical asserted the invalidity of several claims within Hologic's U.S. patent No. 6,872,183, providing a number of different prior references. The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board determined that Hologic's patent was indeed "unpatentable as obvious."
Hologic then sent an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which the circuit judge rejected on April 19, citing substantial evidence supporting the Board's initial determination.
The case appears to be part of an ongoing row between the two companies, with Hologic previously winning a $4.8 million lawsuit against Minerva Surgical for infringement of Hologic's endometrial ablation technology patents.
