Feb 11 2007
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the dismissal of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Medtronic against BrainLAB AG in 1998.
The appellate court affirmed a previous district court ruling that BrainLAB image-guided surgery and radiotherapy products do not infringe any of the patents in suit.
In February 2006, the US District Court in Denver, Colorado, dismissed Medtronic's patent infringement lawsuit, finding that BrainLAB products do not infringe any of Medtronic's patents in suit. The district court concluded that a September 2005 jury verdict, where the jury found that BrainLAB infringed four patents held or licensed by Medtronic and awarded Medtronic US$51 million, was in error and not supported by the evidence.
Medtronic has the possibility to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
"We are pleased that the Court of Appeals has affirmed the district court ruling in this case. The court has confirmed that BrainLAB imaging technology does not infringe the patents in suit and we look forward to further developing our surgical navigation business," commented Stefan Vilsmeier, founder and CEO of BrainLAB.