Guidant v. St. Jude
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
St. Jude will seek to have a $140 mil. implantable defibrillator patent infringement damage award to Guidant reduced or set aside, the firm says July 3. Filed in November 1996 in Indianapolis federal court, the complaint focused on four Guidant ICD patents (1"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 11, 2000, p. 11). The jury found that St. Jude infringed Guidant's '472 patent, which expired March 4, but that it did not infringe the firm's '288 patent. Both were ruled to be valid. The court previously dismissed claims on a third patent ('191), although Guidant has appealed that decision. Guidant dropped claims involving a fourth patent, which expired in 1998 ('678). The jury's finding will have no impact on current or future ICD offerings, St. Jude maintains. Post-trial motions must be filed within 10 weeks