Covidien‘s (NYSE:COV) Nellcor patient monitoring subsidiary wants a judge to rule that CasMed (NSDQ:CASM) breached their settlement agreement in protesting the validity of a disputed patent the medical device companies have been wrangling over since 2007.

Nellcor sued CasMed late last year, alleging that its Branford, Conn.-based rival broke their deal settling a patent infringement lawsuit by protesting the validity of the patent during a re-examination by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

In July, Nellcor filed a motion for summary judgment, asking Judge Sean Cox of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan to bar CasMed from further participating in the re-examination, court documents and regulatory filings show.

Cox has already decided to stay a portion of the case dealing with what damages, if any, CasMed would owe if breach of contract is proven. A hearing on the Nellcor summary judgment motion is slated for Oct. 18. CasMed said it plans to officially oppose the motion.

 Masimo eyes GE, Mindray for IP action
Covidien and CasMed aren’t the only patient monitoring makers eager to protect their intellectual property. Masimo (NSDQ:MASI) said it believes that GE (NYSE:GE) and Mindray Medical (NYSE:MR) may be infringing at least 1 of its patents.

"Our failure to pursue any potential claim could result in the loss of our proprietary rights and harm our position in the marketplace. Therefore, we may be forced to pursue litigation to enforce our rights," according to a regulatory filing.
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 Fed. Circ. stays NuVasive appeal in Medtronic loss

NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is temporarily suspending its review of NuVasive’s appeal of its $101.2 million patent infringement loss to Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), pending a lower court’s decision on the royalty rate NUVA will pay during the appeals process.

"We expect the issue to be resolved in the near term, at which point we expect a new final judgment to be entered and the appeal to again progress forward," according to a regulatory filing.
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 Cardiac Sciences suit against Zoll goes forward
A lawsuit filed by Cardiac Sciences accusing Zoll Medical (NSDQ:ZOLL) of breaching a defibrillator patent cross-licensing deal will go forward after a California judge denied Zoll’s claim that the statute of limitations disqualified the suit, Law 360 reported (subscription).
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 Gambro Renal sues NxStage Medical
Gambro Renal  alleges that NxStage Medical (NSDQ:NXTM) made false and misleading statements and "wrongfully interfered with contractual and advantageous relationships of Gambro’s critical care business," according to a regulatory filing.

"Gambro seeks compensatory and treble damages, disgorgement of profits and injunctive relief. We believe the suit is without merit and intend to defend the claim vigorously," NxStage said.
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