Edwards wins THV patent duel with Medtronic
A federal appeals court upheld a jury decision that Medtronic CoreValve infringed the Andersen transcatheter heart valve (THV) patent owned by Edwards Lifesciences.
Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the April 2010 federal jury decision, which included a verdict awarding payment of $74 million in damages to Edwards. The court also sent Edwards' request for a permanent injunction that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of the CoreValve system in the U.S. to the trial court.
The patent involved the Andersen family of patents, which relates to a valve prosthesis for implantation using a catheter. A petition has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to extend this patent to 2017.