A Medical Device Daily

Sometimes when a court renders a decision it is difficult to tell the "winner" from the "loser," especially where patent litigation is concerned. Case in point, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) and Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey) each infringed on each other's patents in stent litigation that has been going on between the two companies for years.

According to the ruling, J&J's Bx Velocity and Cypher stent systems infringe one of Boston Scientific's patents, but Boston Scientific's Express, Taxus Express, and Libert stents infringe one J&J patent while the Libert stent infringes a second J&J patent.

The decision made by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit mostly upheld a district court's earlier decision. However, the court overturned one ruling against the Taxus Libert stent. Damages will be determined in a future court proceeding.

"We are gratified the appeals court upheld the finding that the BX Velocity and Cypher stents infringe our patent and the patent is valid, and we are pleased the infringement claims against the Taxus Libert stent were dismissed with prejudice," said Jim Tobin, president/CEO of Boston Scientific. "We consider the outcome of this appeal to be highly positive."