(Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.))
By Christopher Snowbeck, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Jul. 28--Fridley-based Medtronic said Monday it will pay $400 million to Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories to settle a number of patent disputes related to heart stents.
The agreement also stipulates the companies will not sue one another in the field of heart stent and stent delivery systems for at least 10 years, subject to certain conditions.
Stents are metal mesh tubes used during angioplasty procedures to prop open heart arteries, and making the devices has been a big business for manufacturers in the Twin Cities for a number of years.
Competition in the market for drug-coated stents heated up in the United States last year with new product approvals for both Medtronic and Abbott. The companies entered a domestic market that had been dominated by just two manufacturers -- Boston Scientific, which makes drug-coated stents at a division based in Maple Grove, and New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson.
Barbara Wrigley, a patent attorney in Minneapolis with Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly, called the $400 million settlement payment "quite large." She cited no more than three recent patent settlements among medical device manufacturers that included larger payments.
Medtronic expects to report a special charge connected with the settlement in its first quarter financial results.
With the resolution of the disputes with Abbott, Medtronic said it had resolved or settled "substantially all intellectual property litigation" affecting its stent business.
Patent
disputes are common in the medical device industry. Companies often opt for settlements because otherwise the legal matters create uncertainty for investors and board members, said Mark Duval, a Minneapolis attorney who consults with device manufacturers.
Shares of Medtronic closed Monday down 24 cents at $34.81.
Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479.
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