Litigation In Brief

Medinol v. Boston Scientific: Injunction against sales of Boston Scientific Express stents and 30% royalty payments to Medinol on Taxus drug-eluting stents applies only to The Netherlands, Hague district court rules. Court finds device infringes one Dutch counterpart of four European patents asserted by Medinol. Boston Scientific, which will appeal the decision, notes that "neither the injunction nor potential damages will be material," because total 2003 sales of the devices in The Netherlands will be only about $10.6 mil. Meanwhile, Medinol's request for cross-border relief in 16 European countries is denied. The ruling follows a June 24 Dusseldorf, Germany district court finding that Boston Scientific infringed Medinol patents in that country (1"The Gray Sheet" June 30, 2003, p. 22). Related New York federal court litigation between the firms is ongoing (2"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 8, 2003, p. 23)...