Medtronic wins $57 million patent suit

Thursday, August 6, 2009, 12:41 pm

SANTA ROSA — Medtronic Inc. was awarded $57 million in past damages in a suit against AGA Medical Corp., the company announced today.

The federal U.S. district court in San Francisco found that AGA Medical’s manufacture, sale and use of its Amplatzer Occluder and vascular plug product lines infringed two U.S. patents owned by Medtronic.

Known as the Jervis patents, they cover self-expanding medical devices using stress to restrain a metal alloy that will expand to its original shape upon being released from a sheath or other restraint. The devices alloys doctors to locate and expand a medical device to repair holes in the heart, treat aortic aneurysms and place stents or treat damaged heart valves in a minimally invasive manner.

The products are produced by Medtronic’s vascular division based in Santa Rosa.

The patents are still in force. In addition to the $57 million in past damages AGA was ordered to pay Medtronic a royalty of 11 percent on future U.S. sales of the infringing products through the year 2018. Medtronic has licensed the Jervis patents to other medical device manufacturers in the U.S.