PR Newswire04.18.19
Neovasc Inc. a developer of minimally invasive transcatheter mitral valve replacement technologies and in the development of minimally invasive devices for the treatment of refractory angina, today announced that the company has resolved the three claims for correction of patent inventorship made by Edwards Lifesciences CardiAQ LLC ("CardiAQ") in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ("the Court").
For reasons of efficiency and economy, and without reaching the merits of the dispute, the parties agreed to a judgment ordering CardiAQ's Jeremy Brent Ratz and Arshad Quadri be added as co-inventors of U.S. Patent No. 9,241,790, U.S. Patent No. 9,248,014 and U.S. Patent No. 9,770,329, which the Court ordered. Each of these patents is directly related to and claims priority to the patent application that led to U.S. Patent No. 8,579,964, on which the Court had previously added Ratz and Dr. Quadri as co-inventors in November, 2016. In summary:
"We have been working diligently to clear the company from a number of claims and the conclusion of this matter is also the conclusion of the last active claims that the Company is aware of," commented Fred Colen, Neovasc CEO. "The German Appeals Court win provided us with further strategic options to resolve these claims and we have maintained the rights to practice our entire Tiara patent portfolio of 10 granted U.S. patents and 16 pending U.S. patents in order to preserve the unique and proprietary nature of our Tiara system. We will also continue to add to this portfolio as we seek to optimize our transapical design and protect our transfemoral, transseptal version of the Tiara."
For reasons of efficiency and economy, and without reaching the merits of the dispute, the parties agreed to a judgment ordering CardiAQ's Jeremy Brent Ratz and Arshad Quadri be added as co-inventors of U.S. Patent No. 9,241,790, U.S. Patent No. 9,248,014 and U.S. Patent No. 9,770,329, which the Court ordered. Each of these patents is directly related to and claims priority to the patent application that led to U.S. Patent No. 8,579,964, on which the Court had previously added Ratz and Dr. Quadri as co-inventors in November, 2016. In summary:
- Each side agreed to bear its own fees and costs in the matter;
- No money damages were at issue or awarded; and
- The addition of inventors will not restrict Neovasc from practicing these patents going forward.
"We have been working diligently to clear the company from a number of claims and the conclusion of this matter is also the conclusion of the last active claims that the Company is aware of," commented Fred Colen, Neovasc CEO. "The German Appeals Court win provided us with further strategic options to resolve these claims and we have maintained the rights to practice our entire Tiara patent portfolio of 10 granted U.S. patents and 16 pending U.S. patents in order to preserve the unique and proprietary nature of our Tiara system. We will also continue to add to this portfolio as we seek to optimize our transapical design and protect our transfemoral, transseptal version of the Tiara."