Ruling keeps the principle of assignor estoppel in place, but restricts its use to situations where an inventor’s claims in court directly contradict those in the patent.

The ruling keeps the principle of assignor estoppel in place, but limits its use to situations where an inventor’s claims in court directly contradict those in the patent.

Medtech start-ups are taking on the global endometrial ablation and uterine artery embolization markets with next-generation systems designed to raise the standard of care in menorrhagia treatment. Profiles of Channel Medsystems, EmboMedics, and Minerva Surgical.

Hologic’s NovaSure system has been able to maintain a substantial lead in the US global endometrial ablation market, but Minerva Surgical Inc. is looking to change all that with its effective, easy-to-use RF argon plasma energy-based Minerva Endometrial Ablation System. What makes this competitive scenario especially intriguing is that three of Minerva's founders and eight of its board members were also closely aligned with Novacept, which developed NovaSure.