Biomet
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Will appeal a $5.8 mil. patent infringement judgment entered against the firm by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The amount represents a tripling of a $1,938,159 compensatory damages award to Pedro A. Ramos, an independent surgeon/inventor who charged that Biomet's manufacture and sale of a bipolar hip cup infringed a patent held by Ramos. Biomet's bipolar acetabular component has been on the market since 1983 and accounts for less than 1% of Biomet's annual sales, the company says. As a result of the judgment, Biomet will record a $5.8 mil. one-time charge against pre-tax earnings for the quarter ending Aug. 31, 1993.