Patent Victory on Appeal for Medtronic Named "Defense Win of the Month"
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The international law firm of McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce a major patent litigation win on behalf of Medtronic AVE, which was recognized in the April 22 issue of The National Law Journal as the "Defense Win of the Month." On December 21, 2000, a jury awarded Cordis Corp., $271.1 million in damages in a consolidated civil action against Medtronic AVE. Following this adverse verdict, Medtronic asked McDermott Will & Emery to step in and handle the post-trial briefs. McDermott’s legal team successfully convinced Chief Judge Sue Robinson of the District Court of Delaware that Medtronic AVE had not infringed the Palmaz-Schatz patents, resulting in the overturning of the jury’s verdict and damages award. The Firm served as co-counsel for Medtronic collaborating with a legal team from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
On March 28, 2002, Chief Judge Robinson handed down her decision. After initially finding no literal infringement, Chief Judge Robinson held that Cordis’ earlier actions to obtain these patents precluded them from asserting that the type of stents made by Medtronic AVE infringed under the doctrine of equivalents. The patents at issue in Cordis Corp. v. Medtronic AVE, Inc. et al pertained to a particular type of balloon expandable stent used for treating diseased coronary arteries.
McDermott, Will & Emery’s IP litigation team included Ray Lupo and Natalia Blinkova from the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. This is the latest of several major patent victories for McDermott, Will & Emery, including its successful representation against Intel on behalf of Broadcom and McDermott’s obtaining of a summary judgment of non-infringement for Medtronic in a case brought by Dr. Jeffrey Kreamer.
Medtronic, Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, is the world’s leading medical technology company, providing lifelong solutions for people with chronic disease. For additional information on the company, please visit their website at www.medtronic.com.
