Court To Rule On Damages in Lawsuit vs. St. Jude Medical

A federal appeals court has sent a patent infringement case against St. Jude Medical Inc. back to district court so damages can be awarded to Guidant Corp. and Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., which filed the suit in 1996.

Cardiac Pacemakers, based in St. Paul, Minn., alleged in its original lawsuit that St. Jude infringed on its patent for a pacemaker. A jury in 2001awarded Cardiac $ 140 million for patent infringement, but another court overturned the ruling.

The appeals court ruled that the infringement applies only when the product was used in the United States.

Guidance Corp. is now owned by Natick, Mass-based Boston Scientific Corp.