The University of California has sued Boston Scientific and Abbot over a patent infringement disagreement. The lawsuit relates to patents that cover atrial fibrillation treatments. The companies were accused of patent violations regarding a University of California professor’s method of isolating a patient’s pulmonary vein through catheter ablation.
The defendants in the suit, both subsidiaries of St. Jude Medical, have submitted motions to dismiss. They say that a lot of the products the University lists in its complaint have nothing to do with the infringing functions the lawsuit references. According to the defendants, “the complaint’s allegations of contributing to or actively inducing physicians’ use of their devices to perform the patented method are not plausible.”
The judge presiding over the case disagreed. She ruled that she doesn’t have enough information to determine whether the referenced uses of the catheters represent patent infringement. She said that the plaintiff and defendants offer conflicting interpretations, as well as out-of-context reasoning to illuminate their positions. The judge further decided that the conflicting nature of the respective interpretations illuminate the fact that a dispute exists and more facts will need to be revealed in the evidentiary record through discovery proceedings before a judgment can be made.
Patent disputes are rarely cut and dry. They can involve complicated legal arguments, a wide array of facts and evidence, competing expert witness testimony and other important considerations before a judge can arrive at a decision. If you suspect that you or your company’s patents have been violated, a California intellectual property lawyer can review your situation to determine if you have a viable claim for damages.
Source: Mass Device, “Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical must face University of California patent suits,” Brad Perriello, June 01, 2017