VOL. 126 | NO. 185 | Thursday, September 22, 2011
By Aisling Maki
Updated 4:13PMMedtronic Inc. announced Tuesday, Sept. 20, that a federal jury has ordered rival spinal implant maker NuVasive Inc. to pay $101.2 million in damages for infringing on three of Medtronic?s patents.
Minneapolis-based Medtronic, the world?s largest medical-device manufacturer, maintains its Spinal and Biologics Business at 1800 Pyramid Place in Memphis.
Medtronic in 2008 sued competitor NuVasive, claiming that several of that company?s products infringe on older patents held by Medtronic.
A federal jury in San Diego found that several spinal care products made by NuVasive infringe three of Medtronic?s patents, according to the company.
Medtronic named those products as NuVasive?s CoRoent XL implants, MaXcess II and III retractors, and Helix and Helix mini anterior cervical plates.
The three patents are related to implants for the thoracic and lumbar spine, a plate-and-screw system for the cervical spine and a tissue retractor.
The translateral implant and cervical plate patents cover inventions developed by Dr. Gary K. Michelson.
?We are pleased by the jury?s verdict,? Doug King, senior vice president and president of Medtronic Spinal said in a statement. ?The decision confirms our leadership in spinal implant technology, and we remain committed to vigorously defending our intellectual property.?
But analyst Jan Wald with Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. said Medtronic?s victory in court might just be the first step in a battle that likely will continue. He expects the verdict will end up in a court of appeals.
?Typically in these kinds of cases, the jury is not experts in the field, per se, but they will do the best job they can,? Wald told The Daily News. ?But in the appeals process, the appellate court actually has more expertise in patent law and more expertise dealing with the technical issues involved. So even though this is a victory for Medtronic, it?s not yet assured until it really goes through the appeals process.?
Wald said it will probably be another year or two before there?s any kind of solid resolution in this case.
?I don?t want to downplay this, but I think we have to put it in perspective,? he said.
Medtronic received other favorable news recently. In addition to the legal victory and subsequent increase in share prices, the company just last week announced it has received a second clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use pedicle screws, already widely used in spine surgeries, to treat the most common type of scoliosis seen in adolescents.
The company?s TSRH Spinal System is Medtronic?s second posterior fixation system to receive clearance for treating scoliosis, and Medtronic said it?s the only company with this clearance under the FDA?s product category for pediatric scoliosis patients treated with posterior pedicle screw instrumentation.
Earlier this month, Medtronic completed acquisitions of two companies it said are poised for growth: Peak Surgical Inc. and Salient Surgical Technologies Inc., a pair of companies that make energy-based surgical tools used to minimize bleeding.
On the flip side, Medtronic also has seen its share of unfavorable publicity. Earlier this month, federal health officials warned patients that drug pumps recalled by Medtronic might fail to deliver drugs used to treat chronic pain, spasms and other conditions, and could cause serious harm due to a malfunction that forms over the battery.
Medtronic first notified physicians of the issue in July and has since updated the pump?s design.
The company also found itself in hot water in June when The Spine Journal published a series of articles claiming surgeons on Medtronic?s payroll failed to disclose complications that arose during clinical trials of rhBMP-2, a protein whose purpose is to stimulate bone formation.
Medtronic in August announced a $2.5 million grant to Yale University to independently review the safety and effectiveness of the bone-growth protein product.
?Medtronic has gone through some pretty hard times,? Wald said. ?But anything like this (court decision) does help. In the marketplace, it will allow Medtronic to market against NuVasive. $100 million in your pocket isn?t a bad thing to have.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/22/medtronic-wins-101m-jury-decision/
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