Johnson & Johnson to Appeal Stent Ruling

Cordis Corp., a unit of drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, said it would appeal a federal court’s decision to uphold a previous ruling that its stent product infringed on a Boston Scientific Corp. patent.
    Johnson & Johnson had asked the US District Court in Delaware to overturn the 2005 verdict. The jury verdict had said Johnson & Johnson’s Cypher stent product infringed up a Boston Scientific drug coating patent.
    The ruling is the third in a series of decisions by US District Court Judge Sue Robinson over the past six weeks regarding patent disputes between the two companies. In the first decision, Robinson upheld a June 2005 verdict that Boston Scientific’s Taxus stent and Liberte and Express bare metal stents infringed on Cordis’ patent for balloon expandable stents. The ruling also found that the Liberte stent infringed on a separate Cordis patent for flexible balloon expandable stents. The first Cordis patent has expired.
    In a second decision, Judge Robinson also upheld part of a July 2005 verdict finding that a Boston Scientific patent was infringed on by Cordis’ Cypher Sirolimus-eluting coronary stent and Bx velocity family of stent products. Cordis said that it will appeal the ruling.
    Dates have not been set for trials to determine damages in any of the cases.