Medtronic settles lawsuit from ex-patent chief Ruschke

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) has settled a discrimination suit from its former chief patent counsel David Ruschke, who went on to become Chief Judge for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, according to recently released court documents.

Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the suit from Ruschke in light of a settlement that he and Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic reached, according to court documents. Neither party in the case released details of the settlement.

In his lawsuit against the medtech giant, Ruschke claimed that he was targeted for harassment and eventually fired because he was gay and had a heart condition.

In 2016, Ruschke was appointed as the Chief Judge for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, having previously managed patent appeals, interferences, post grant reviews and inter partes reviews for Medtronic.

Ruschke stepped down from the position as Chief of the PTAB in August, and now serves as a special advisor to the Office’s patent division, according to a Bloomberg report.