A federal judge let stand a $101.2 million jury verdict against NuVasive (NSDQ:NUVA) in a patent dispute with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), but denied a Medtronic motion by to permanently bar NuVasive from selling the infringing spinal implants.
Judge Michael Anello of the U.S. District Court for Southern California denied NuVasive’s bid to overturn the jury’s decision, which also awarded $660,000 to NuVasive. Anello had issued tentative rulings denying the motions Jan. 25.
"The bottom line is that I now respectfully affirm my tentatives denying the motions," the judge said at a hearing yesterday in San Diego, according to Bloomberg.
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The case dates back to 2008, when a group of Medtronic subsidiaries sued NuVasive, accusing the San Diego-based company of infringing 9 patents relating to spinal implants. NuVasive in turn accused Medtronic of trespassing on three of its patents.
"We respectfully differ with some of the rulings and are in the process of assessing our options going forward," Medtronic lawyer Luke Dauchot told the news service after the hearing.
The news sent NuVasive shares (which jumped after word of Anello’s tentative rulings broke Jan. 25) down 4.7% to a $15.55 close yesterday. Shares were trading at $15.55 as of about 10:40 today.
MDT shares were trading at $39.23 as of about 10:40, down 0.6% on the day.
