A German court ruled today that a patent owned by Irvine-based heart device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. was infringed upon by rival Medtronic Inc.
The German court’s decision immediately stops sales of Minnesota-based Medtronic’s CoreValve and CoreValve Evolut less-invasive replacement heart valves in that country, requires their recall from the market, and payment of damages to Edwards.
“Edwards will continue to vigorously enforce our intellectual property to ensure continued innovation in the treatment of patients with severe aortic stenosis,” said Larry Wood, the company’s corporate vice president, transcatheter heart valves, in a statement.
Medtronic, which employs about 700 people in OC, said in a statement that it “respectfully disagrees” with the German court’s decision and plans to appeal. Medtronic got the CoreValve in 2009, when it spent $700 million for Irvine-based startup CoreValve Inc.
Edwards’ shares were up about 3% to a market value of $7.6 billion in early afternoon New York trading.
