A federal appeals court partially overturned a lower court decision awarding a $2.7 million judgment to Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) in a patent spat over spinal stabilization technology with Globus Medical Inc.

The U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit upheld two of the lower court’s rulings but overturned a third, meaning the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania must reconsider the amount to award Medtronic.

The Fridley, Minn.-based medical device maker had accused Globus of infringing a pair of patents for “Instruments for Stabilization of Bony Structures.” A district court jury found that Globus infringed the patents and that court bestowed the $2.7 million award. But the appeals court found merit in one leg of the Globus appeal, ruling that one claim of the patents isn’t valid on grounds of anticipation.

That means that the technology described in the claim has already been invented. In this case, the appeals court found that “the claims as construed are anticipated by an endoscopic surgery performed in the mid-1990s by [Globus] expert witness Dr. Paul McAfee,” according to court documents.

“Because the McAfee procedure discloses all elements of claim … we reverse the district court’s denial,” according to the documents. “We remand this case to the district court to determine if the calculation of damages must be re-evaluated in light of the modification of the judgment.”