Cordis Corp., the stent-making arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), got out of the coronary stent game 2 years ago, but that’s not stopping Israeli medical device company Medinol from suing Cordis for patent infringement with the Cypher and Cypher Select stents it no longer makes.
Medinol, which won a $750 million decision over erstwhile partner Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) in 2005, accused Cordis in March of violating 4 of its patents with the Cypher stents, according to court documents and regulatory filings.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, seeks a jury trial, judgments of infringement and willful infringement, damages and triple damages for willful infringement, legal fees and pre- and post-judgment interest, according to the documents. The patents cited cover articulated stent technology.
For its part, Johnson & Johnson argued that it never sold any of the Cypher products and asked Judge Judge Shira Scheindlin to dismiss the case. Barring that, J&J wants the judge to rule against infringement and to find the patents invalid, according to its counter-claim.
"Plaintiff Medinol Ltd. has erroneously named Johnson & Johnson as a defendant to this action. The only proper defendant is Johnson & Johnson’s wholly-owned subsidiary Cordis Corporation," according to the documents. "J&J has never sold any of the products that are cited in the complaint as infringing Medinol’s patents.”
Depositions in the case are slated to end by November, with a trial expected to last 8 days coming next year, according to court documents.