Abbott Granted Extension for Stent System

Abbott Laboratories has won from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a one-year extension on its rights to the technology behind a widely used stent delivery system, handing a setback to Fridley, MN-based rival Medtronic Inc., which had sought to block the extension.

Medtronic doesn’t have a US license to use the “rapid exchange” system — making it the only domestic stent seller not having the tool.

A Medtronic spokesman said the company is awaiting a ruling on a motion it filed in federal court. The patent office ruling is “procedural and has no bearing on our efforts to seek justice,” spokesman David Beach said.

SOURCE: Dow Jones News Service