Court Nixes Jury Award Over Medtronic's Heart Valve Infringement Claim

A federal appeals court has sided with Medtronic Plc (NYSE:MDT) in a long-running patent dispute, reversing a jury's finding that the company induced infringement of a Colibri Heart Valve LLC patent related to the implantation of artificial heart valves.

At the heart of the case was Colibri's U.S. Patent No. 8,900,294, which outlines a method allowing surgeons to partially deploy and then recapture an artificial heart valve during implantation if the initial positioning appears off.

This technique gives surgeons a "do-over" opportunity to adjust placement before full deployment.

Thomson Reuters published a copy of the lawsuit online Monday.

Colibri alleged Medtronic encouraged surgeons to perform this method using its CoreValve products, thus infringing the patent under inducement rules in U.S. patent law.

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Initially, the patent application included two methods of partial deployment: pushing the valve ...