Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic settle patent infringement lawsuit

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., Jan. 23 - Edwards Lifesciences Corp. announced it has entered into an agreement with Medtronic, Inc. and Medtronic Vascular, Inc. resolving patent infringement litigation.

The litigation was initiated in August 2003 by Edwards and Endogad Research Pty. Ltd., the company formed by the clinician-inventors of the patents, according to a company news release.

The alleged infringement was of certain patents related to modular or multi-part endovascular grafts for treatment of various types of aneurysms.

Medtronic will pay $37.5 million to Edwards and Endogad in exchange for nonexclusive licenses to the patents involved in the litigation, as well as other related patents, Edwards said in the news release.

Under the terms of the agreement, Medtronic also has purchased delivery system assets to be used with abdominal aortic aneurysm grafts.

Edwards said it expects to record a special pre-tax gain in the first quarter of 2006 of about $20 million after taking into account its agreement with Endogad and legal expenses.

"This resolution protects the interests of Edwards and our clinician-inventor partners, with whom we work to create new technologies for the treatment of advanced cardiovascular disease," Stuart L. Foster, Edwards' corporate vice president, technology & discovery, said in the release.

Edwards and Endogad remain in litigation with Cook, Inc. and W. L. Gore & Associates regarding infringement of the patents that are owned by Endogad and exclusively licensed to Edwards Lifesciences.

The products named in the original suit include Medtronic's AneuRx Stent Graft and Talent Stent Graft Systems, Cook's Zenith Endovascular Graft and Gore's Excluder Bifurcated Endoprothesis.

Edwards Lifesciences specializes in advanced cardiovascular disease, including heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. The company has its headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

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