A federal judge dealt a blow to Covidien‘s Mallinckrodt Inc. subsidiary in its patent infringement case against two American divisions of Italian life science firm Bracco SpA.
Judge T. John Ward of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas granted a summary judgment motion filed by Bracco’s Lake Success, N.Y.-based E-Z-EM Inc. and Acist Medical Systems Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn., ruling that Mallinckrodt can’t collect damages on injectors sold before June 20, 2007.
That’s because the patent in question doesn’t cover injectors the companies made before that date, Ward ruled. Hazelwood, Mo.-based Mallinckrodt sued the companies for infringing its patent for a device used to inject chemicals into MRI patients.
Mallinckrodt, a division of Mansfield, Mass.-based medical device monolith Covidien, wants a jury trial, unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent further infringement by the Bracco divisions’ Empower devices.