A federal appeals court overturned ban on U.S. sales of the Guidezilla catheter made by Boston Scientific(NYSE:BSX) today in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Vascular Solutions (NSDQ:VASC).
The suit alleges that the Guidezilla catheter "is a copy of VSI’s GuideLiner catheter. Guidezilla’s design, materials, and dimensions are materially the same as those of GuideLiner and those described and claimed in the patents-in-suit," according to court documents.
Minneapolis-based Vascular Solutions in July 2013 asked Judge John Tunheim of the U.S. District Court for Minnesota to grant an injunction blocking its larger rival from "making, using, offering for sale, or selling Boston Scientific’s Guidezilla guide extension catheter, or any other guide extension catheter" that allegedly infringes the patents, according to court documents.
Boston Scientific filed a sealed motion opposing the injunction bid, but Tunheim granted the injunction Dec. 10. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Boston Scientific’s request to stay the injunction pending appeal in January, but today ruled that there’s too much unknown to justify the ban.
"As evidenced by the extended argument before this court, there are too many unresolved issues at this stage of the case and the record is too incomplete on issues of claim construction, infringement, and ultimate validity to warrant the grant of a preliminary injunction," Federal Circuit Judge Jay Plager wrote, according to court documents filed today.
Boston Scientific launched the Guidezilla catheter in July 2013 in the U.S. and Europe, despite the Vascular Solutions lawsuit.