CORRECTION May 9, 2016: This article originally stated that the appeals court ruled against Medtronic.
A federal appeals court today upheld a U.S. Patent & Trademark Office decision invalidating a stent patent licensed to Endotach, a subsidiary of patent troll Acacia Research, in its patent battle with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).
Endotach sued Medtronic in 2012, alleging that the medtech giant infringed a pair of patents licensed to Endotach by their inventor’s widow. The patents, for “Endovascular Bypass Graft” and “intravascular Stent with Secure Mounting Means,” were awarded to Dr. Valentine Rhodes and passed on to his widow after his death in 2000, according to the documents.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida, accuses Medtronic of violating the patents with its Trident, Valiant and Endurant stent grafts.
The Patent Trial & Appeal Board granted Medtronic’s 1st request for inter partes review, subsequently invalidating the Endotach patent. A bid for another inter partes review was denied in September 2014.
Endotach appealed the PTAB invalidation ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which today denied the appeal without comment.