Medtronic wins suit over Boston Scientific heart patents
Medtronic Inc., the world's largest maker of heart devices, won a lawsuit it filed to prove it wasn't violating patents controlled by Boston Scientific Corp.
U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Delaware, said Wednesday that Medtronic implantable defibrillators, including the InSync, Concerto and Consulta brands, weren't infringing two patents owned by Mirowski Family Ventures LLC and licensed to Boston Scientific. She upheld the validity of the patents.
Chris Garland, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Medtronic, said the company is pleased with the decision. Erik Kopp, a spokesman for Natick, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific, said the company had no comment.
The dispute was over devices to correct a defect in which the heart ventricles contract at different times, which can lead to heart failure. The patents, which expired in 2009, are for a way to use electrodes to simultaneously stimulate the ventricles, according to the judge's opinion.
Medtronic filed the lawsuit in 2007.
The case is Medtronic Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp., 07cv823, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (Wilmington).
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