Johnson & Johnson v. Medtronic
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Medtronic's Vertex multi-axial pedicle screws infringe a Johnson & Johnson/DePuy patent, making Medtronic liable for $226.3 million in damages, a federal jury in Boston determines Sept. 27. In 2006, a federal appeals court sent the case back to the Massachusetts district court after finding that the lower court did not fully consider the "doctrine of equivalents" - which allows for an infringement finding if a technology performs substantially the same function in substantially the same way as a patent design, even if they are not equivalent - in its original non-infringement ruling. The Boston jury found Medtronic to have infringed under the doctrine. Medtronic will appeal and says that the decision might not be finalized for up to two years. In any case, it is phasing in a new "non-infringing" screw design for the Vertex line, which accounts for "under $100 million" in revenue, the company says