Federal Court Revives Part of DePuy Spinal Patent Case

A federal appeals court revived part of a patent infringement case that New Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Spine is pursuing against the spinal business of rival, Medtronic, according to the Reuters News Service.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a ruling by a federal district judge who had dismissed J&J’s charges that Medtronic’s Vertex system of spinal surgery screws infringed on a patent DePuy licenses from Biedermann Motech GmbH.

At issue is a 2001 lawsuit DePuy and Biedermann filed against Minneapolis, MN-based Medtronic, charging that several Medtronic products had infringed on patents that DePuy licenses for a system of screws used to stabilize patients’ spinal columns.

A district court judge later threw out charges of infringement involving two other Medtronic products, including its Vertex system.