Neovasc (NSDQ:NVCN) said late yesterday that it resolved the last remaining patent litigation between it and Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) subsidiary CardiAQ Valve Technologies by adding members of CardiAQ as co-inventors of the patents in dispute.
Vancouver-based Neovasc said that it added CardiAQ’s Jeremy Brent Ratz and Arshad Quadri as co-inventors of three patents, each of which was related to another patent that the court had previously added the individuals to as co-inventors.
Neovasc said that each party agreed to bear their own fees and costs, and that no money damages were issued or awarded. The company also said that the addition of the extra inventors will not restrict it from using the patents moving forward.
“We have been working diligently to clear the company from a number of claims and the conclusion of this matter is also the conclusion of the last active claims that the company is aware of. The German Appeals Court win provided us with further strategic options to resolve these claims and we have maintained the rights to practice our entire Tiara patent portfolio of 10 granted U.S. patents and 16 pending U.S. patents in order to preserve the unique and proprietary nature of our Tiara system. We will also continue to add to this portfolio as we seek to optimize our transapical design and protect our transfemoral, transseptal version of the Tiara,” CEO Fred Colen said in a press release.
The decision ends a long string of patent suits that Edwards inherited when it acquired CardiAQ Valve for $400 million in August, 2014.
Neovasc claimed a win in German court last month after an appeals court in the country dismissed a case against it filed by Edwards. In the U.S., a jury in May 2016 awarded $70 million to CardiAQ after finding that Neovasc misappropriated trade secrets in developing Tiara. A federal judge in Massachusetts added $21 million in enhanced damages to the decision that November; in January 2017 the Boston court added another $21 million to the judgment.