Olympus goes after ex-sales manager, ArthroCare
June 16, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Olympus accused a former sales manager and ArthroCare of breaching non-compete provisions and interfering with a contract, alleging that ex-Olympus territory head Clayton Williard took confidential information along when he jumped ship for the same job with ArthroCare.
Olympus hired Williard from then-subsidiary Gyrus in February 2012 as ear, nose & throat territory manager for New Mexico, according to court documents. Williard resigned from Olympus May 12, effective May 23, saying he’d taken the same position at ArthroCare, according to the documents. Read more
Stryker alleges Medtronic colluded with patent troll for Kyphon IP
June 19, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Stryker wants to drag Medtronic into a patent infringement lawsuit filed against it over vertebroplasty technology by alleged patent troll Orthophoenix as it seeks to assert anti-trust claims against Medtronic, Orthophoenix and its owner.
Orthophoenix was formed April 25, 2013, and bought the rights to Medtronic’s Kyphon IP the next day, according to court documents. Read more
Investors fire life science VC Burrill from his own fund
June 19, 2014 by Brad Perriello
The investors behind a $283 million venture capital fund ousted its high-flying founder, Stephen Burrill, after the fund’s manager allegedly discovered that Burrill and his company’s chief counsel and its CFO misappropriated nearly $20 million from the fund, according to a lawsuit filed in a California state court.
The lawsuit, filed by the managing director for Burrill & Co.’s Fund II and Fund III, Ann Hanham, accuses Burrill, longtime outside-counsel-turned-staff-counsel Victor Hebert and CFO Helena Sen of diverting $19.2 million from Fund III “over a period of several years, ostensibly (1) “to ‘prepay’ for management services not yet rendered, and (2) to fund unspecified and unauthorized loans,” according to the lawsuit. Read more
Patient group wants J&J probe over pelvic mesh | MassDevice.com On Call
June 20, 2014 by Arezu Sarvestani
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The controversy over transvaginal mesh implants is heating up in Florida, with patient advocates calling on authorities to investigate Johnson & Johnson and its leadership.
The Corporate Action Network issued an open call to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe J&J and CEO Alex Gorsky for potential misconduct related to the manufacture and sale of pelvic mesh devices. Read more