Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. last week said it settled a patent lawsuit with Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. and Medtronic Vascular Inc.
The deal calls for Medtronic to pay $37.5 million to Edwards and its partner Endogad Research Pty. Ltd. to license patents for endovascular grafts that treat aneurysms, including for abdominal aortic aneurysms, a dangerous ballooning of the body’s main artery.
Edwards and Endogad sued Medtronic in 2003 over alleged infringement of certain patents for the grafts.
Medtronic was granted non-exclusive licenses to the patents, including for the abdominal aortic aneurysm grafts. Under the deal, Medtronic also bought delivery systems for the grafts.
The settlement “protects the interests of Edwards and our clinician-inventor partners, with whom we work to create new technologies for the treatment of advanced cardiovascular disease,” said Stuart Foster, the heart device maker’s corporate vice president, technology and discovery, in a release.
Edwards said it expects to record a special pretax gain in the first quarter of about $20 million, after taking into account its agreement with Endogad and legal expenses.
Meanwhile, Edwards said that it and Endogad remain in litigation with Cook Inc. of Bloomington, Ind., and W.L. Gore & Associates in Newark, Del., over alleged infringement of patents owned by Endogad and exclusively licensed to Edwards.
,Vita Reed
