Updated to include commentary from Edwards Lifesciences
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said today it won a victory in a U.K.-based patent spat with Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW), though Edwards argued that the win was a mixed bag.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific said that the U.K. Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from Edwards and upheld an earlier decision that its Sapien 3 infringes on a Boston Scientific patent.
In the decision, the appeals court found that all claims on a single Boston Scientific patent were valid, the company said.
Boston Scientific added that it plans to appeal a U.S. Patent Office Inter Partes Review finding that certain claims of a US patent related to transcatheter heart valves owned by Boston Scientific asserted against Edwards are invalid.
Edwards Lifesciences said that the appeal upheld an earlier decision which dismissed claims on a single patent but also found that a separate Boston Scientific patent was “valid and infringed.”
“The appeals court in the United Kingdom upheld the Patents Court decision from 2017, which found that one of Boston Scientific’s patents related to outer seals for transcatheter heart valves that was asserted against the Sapien 3 valve is invalid, while a second patent is valid and infringed. The validity of this second patent, regarding outer THV seals with “sacs,” is separately under review by the European Patent Office, which is expected to hold a hearing this summer. Today’s decision from the appeals court applies only within the UK and does not currently affect the availability of the Sapien 3 valve,” an Edwards spokesperson wrote in a statement to MassDevice.com
Earlier this month, Edwards announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office had ruled in their favor in the patent spat.
“We are pleased with another positive ruling from the European courts which further substantiates our intellectual property. We see the U.K. court’s decision as an important validation of our patents and supports our goal to bring differentiated solutions to patients suffering from severe and symptomatic aortic valve stenosis,” corporate secretary, GC and senior VP Desiree Ralls-Morrison said in prepared remarks.
Yesterday, Boston Scientific said it is joining the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota in backing startup accelerator Gener8tor as it launches a medtech focused incubator in Minneapolis.
