Feb 21 2007
Spectranetics Corporation has announced that it has received an unfavorable jury verdict in a patent litigation dispute with Dr. Peter Rentrop in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. Spectranetics has filed several post-trial motions seeking to overturn the verdict.
The last of these motions was filed on February 5, 2007, and the jury award is not final until the judge rules on the post-trial motions.
Dr. Rentrop alleged that the patent issued to him on January 6, 2004 was infringed by the Spectranetics' Point 9 millimeter catheters. Spectranetics does not believe that Dr. Rentrop's patent was infringed and has asserted counter-claims of invalidity, breach of contract and inequitable conduct.
Dr. Rentrop was seeking damages of $7,500,000, which consists of treble damages on a base royalty of $2,500,000.
The jury awarded Dr. Rentrop an award of $500,000 that relates to royalties on the sale of Point 9 millimeter catheters. The royalty implies a 5% royalty rate on sales of approximately $10,000,000 during the period between January 6, 2004 and October 31, 2006. In addition to royalties, the jury awarded $150,000 of legal fees to Dr. Rentrop. Costs associated with this award total $690,000, which include $40,000 of accrued royalties for the final two months of 2006. These costs, and legal fees of approximately $500,000 related to the litigation, will be recorded within operating expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.
Spectranetics awaits the ruling on its post-trial motions and intends to pursue all available appeal options, if necessary.
http://www.spectranetics.com/