The Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) subsidiary Cardiocom yesterday, upholding an earlier ruling in a continuing spat between Robert Bosch Healthcare and the Fridley, Minn.-based medical giant.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal’s Board earlier decision not to review 2 patents from Robert Bosch Healthcare could not be appealed under the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the recent Cuozzo case.
Medtronic argued in July that, because of the Cuozzo Supreme Court decision, the Federal Circuit Court had authority to review the decision from the PTAB, as it was not a final ruling.
The Federal Circuit disagreed, rejecting Medtronic’s argument and saying upholding its barring from reviewing the decision on instituting an inter partes review, according to court documents.
“It is difficult to conceive of a case more “closely related” to a decision to institute proceedings than a reconsideration of that very decision. It would be strange to hold that a decision to institute review would not be reviewable but a reconsideration of that decision would be reviewable,” the court wrote in its ruling.
The ruling follows a federal appeals court decision in June, which upheld an earlier Cardiocom win against Robert Bosch.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld rulings by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s Patent Trial & Appeal Board that invalidated a trio of Bosch patents.
Bosch had alleged that the electronic data collection system used with Cardiocom’s chronic disease management platform violated U.S. patents 7,516,192 (Networked system for interactive communication and remote monitoring of individuals), 7,840,420 (Multiple patient monitoring system for proactive health management) and 7,921,186 (Networked system for interactive communication and remote monitoring of individuals).
The PTAB ruled in January 2015 that the patents were unpatentable as obvious in light of prior art. Bosch appealed, but the Federal Circuit yesterday upheld the PTAB decisions without comment in a per curiam decision.
Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic bought Cardiocom for $200 million in cash in August 2013 in a bid to get into the disease management business.
Chanhassen, Minn.-based Cardiocom makes devices aimed at helping to manage chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease.
