A Medical Device Daily

DePuy Spine (Raynham, Massachusetts) yesterday reported that Medtronic (Minneapolis) must pay it more than $26 million in damages to satisfy a federal appeals court ruling in December that found Medtronic violated a DePuy device patent (Medical Device Daily, Dec. 18, 2006). The original payment was to be $24.3 million, with the larger amount based on interest accrued, according to a DePuy spokesperson.

In December, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a verdict reached by a federal jury in October 2004 that found that Medtronic's MAS screws — used surgically to correct spinal defects — infringed the DePuy patent.

In another development, a court date has been set to determine whether Medtronic's Vertex screws also infringe on the same DePuy Spine patent. The trial is set to begin Sept. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

"We will continue to vigorously defend our patents and intellectual property," said Gary Fischetti, president of DePuy Spine.

Biedermann Motech (Schwenningen, Germany), a supplier of medical and orthopedic products, owns the patent in question and DePuy is the U.S. licensee.

DePuy is a business of Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, New Jersey).