A Medical Device Daily

Diomed (Andover, Massachusetts), developer and marketer of minimally-invasive medical technologies, including the EndoVenous Laser Treatment (EVLT) for varicose veins, reported that U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton has set May 22 as the date to hear oral arguments for a permanent injunction against both AngioDynamics (Queensbury, New York) and Vascular Solutions (Minneapolis) selling products that infringe Diomed's U.S. Patent Number 6,398,777 regarding the endovascular laser treatment of varicose veins.

In January 2004, Diomed began legal action in the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts against AngioDynamics, seeking injunctive relief and damages for infringement of Diomed's "777" patent (Medical Device Daily, Jan. 27, 2004).

Diomed initiated similar infringement actions against Vascular Solutions and two other competitors — CoolTouch (Roseville, California) and Total Vein Solutions (Houston) later in 2004.

In August 2006, Judge Gorton ruled that Diomed's '777 patent is both valid and enforceable (MDD, Sept. 1, 2006) and, in the trial ending on March 28 of this year, the jury found AngioDynamics and Vascular Solutions liable for both inducing infringement and contributory infringement of Diomed's patent, awarding Diomed a total of $12.4 million in damages (MDD, March 30, 2007).

Of that total, AngioDynamics was slated to pay $8.36 million of the total verdict.

In addition to hearing Diomed's motion for a permanent injunction, Judge Gorton will hear arguments for all the pending motions, including the defendants' motions for a new trial or judgment as a matter of law and Diomed's motions for prejudgment interest and post-judgment damages.

"We were obviously extremely pleased with the jury's verdict in this critical case and look forward to the injunction hearing later this month," said James Wylie Jr., president/CEO of Diomed. "A permanent injunction, if granted, will require both companies to cease marketing their infringing products. We are hopeful for an early ruling from the court which will allow us to focus our efforts on growing this exciting market."

The EVLT procedure and the company's related products were cleared by the FDA in January 2002.