Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) announced today that they have agreed to end Nevro’s patent infringement lawsuit against the larger company.
Nevro had filed suit in the Northern District of California relating to high frequency paresthesia-free spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy. The official dismissal of the case is subject to the approval of the court.
Boston Scientific assured the court in July 2018 that it had no imminent plans to commercially launch a high-frequency spinal cord stimulation system delivering therapy at frequencies between 1.5 kHz and 100 kHz and the parties agreed to the dismissal of Nevro’s declaratory judgment claims.
Nevro then proceeded to appeal the California court’s ruling of invalidity, with regard to certain of Nevro’s claims, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In April 2020, the Federal Circuit issued a ruling in Nevro’s favor, and vacated and remanded the California court’s judgment of invalidity. Because Boston Scientific still has no current plans to commercially launch a high-frequency SCS system in the United States, the parties agreed to dismiss all remaining claims in the California case, according to a news release from Nevro.
Nevro had sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against further infringement as well as damages and attorney’s fees, but with the case now ended, Nevro will receive none of its requested relief, according to a news release from Boston Scientific. There was no ruling which would impose any restrictions on any current or future Boston Scientific product, that company said.
“We are pleased that every single claim brought by Nevro in this case will be dismissed,” said Boston Scientific SVP and general counsel Desiree Ralls-Morrison in the release. “This dismissal will allow us to focus our legal efforts on upholding our company’s intellectual property in this dynamic category of innovation.”
Separately, the Boston Scientific-initiated patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation cases against Nevro in Delaware will continue and are not affected by the dismissal of the California litigation. The first trial is currently scheduled for October 2021 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.