Court lifts Medtronic’s RX catheter injunction
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
A May 2000 injunction that has barred Medtronic from manufacturing or marketing rapid-exchange catheters will end Oct. 29, the date on which Abbott's RX patent was originally supposed to expire, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California 1ruled Oct. 21. The court concluded that Abbott would not suffer any material damage, and that lifting the ban suits the public interest and the spirit of the Patent Term Restoration Act. The ruling follows a one-year interim patent extension granted to Abbott on Oct. 14 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2"The Gray Sheet" Oct. 20, 2008, In Brief). Medtronic says it will announce its commercial plans after Oct. 29. The firm may choose to launch despite the extension and risk modest infringement damages if a full extension is granted, according to Morgan Stanley analyst David Lewis