W.L. Gore & Associates began paying out the $857.4 million it owes C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) for infringing a stent graft patent with a $35.7 million royalty check, according to court documents.
Gore could still be on the hook for another $206.5 million, according to the documents.
Earlier this month a federal judge upheld Bard’s win in the decade-long legal war between the medical device companies, ruling that Gore’s infringement was willful – a decision that opens the door to the possibility of triple damages for bard.
The 1st, $35.7 million payment to Bard covers royalties owed for the period spanning July 1 through Sept. 30 of this year, according to the documents.
The legal row dates back to March 2003, when Bard 1st sued Gore for patent infringement. Gore later alleged that 1 of its engineers, Peter Cooper, invented a key claim in the patent in the early 1970s. A federal judge initially ruled that the patent was invented by Dr. David Goldfarb, who later assigned it to Bard. The judge’s 1st decision boosted Bard’s $185.6 million jury award to $371.2 million, prompting Gore to appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the decision in February 2012 (sending BCR shares up 2%) and affirmed that judgment in June 2012. Gore’s subsequent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2012 was denied early this year. In July, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office upheld the validity of the Bard patent.
