A Southern California U.S. District Court has upheld patent infringement claims by Applied Medical Resources Corp., Laguna Hills, against Core Dynamics Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla.
In two orders issued last month, the court determined that Core, a maker of laparoscopic medical devices, infringed and induced infringement of Applied patents, which relate to technology used in minimally invasive surgery.
In June 1999, Applied sued Core and, later, two of Core’s distributors for alleged infringement of its Universal Seal technology. A trial to determine damages is scheduled for September.
The court decision follows Applied’s successful assertion of three of its patents against Tyco International Ltd.’s U.S. Surgical unit. In 1998, U.S. Surgical paid Applied $22.5 million in damages, royalties and costs for infringing the Applied intellectual property.
Applied’s intellectual property position in Universal Seal technology already is recognized by Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, through a licensing arrangement.
Applied is a medical device company involved in minimally invasive procedures for cardiovascular, general surgery and urology applications.
