Edwards Lifesciences Corp., an Irvine heart valve maker, said Thursday that a federal appeals court affirmed a ruling against it in a patent infringement case.
Edwards said the appeals court upheld an earlier federal court ruling that Cook Inc. of Bloomington, Ind., and Newark, Del.-based W.L. Gore & Associates didn’t infringe Edwards’ patents for modular or multi-part endovascular graft devices for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms, or a dangerous ballooning of the body’s main artery.
The device maker said while it was “disappointed” in the court’s ruling, it didn’t affect any of its businesses because it stopped making devices to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms in 2006.
Edwards also said an undisclosed co-defendant settled in the case in 2006 under terms that included a $37.5 million payment.
That co-defendant appears to be Medtronic Inc., a Minneapolis-based competitor.
