Irvine heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said its request to stop production of a valve from rival Medtronic Inc. was denied by a federal judge.
The action means Medtronic can make and sell its Medtronic CoreValve device, which it got in a $700 million deal for Irvine-based CoreValve Inc. in 2009, even though it’s been found to have infringed on one of Edwards’ patents.
The court also affirmed an earlier penalty that requires Minneapolis-based Medtronic to pay $73.5 million to Edwards for patent infringement.
Medtronic said it plans to appeal the penalty.
A federal jury found last year that CoreValve willfully infringed on a patent for Edwards’ Sapien less-invasive replacement heart valve that’s implanted via a catheter.
Sapien and CoreValve both are sold in Europe now. Sapien is in a major U.S. clinical trial and is expected to make its domestic debut late this year.
In a release, Edwards said that it planned to appeal a pair of court rulings denying it increased damages and a permanent injunction.
