Medtronic wins stent patent arbitration

An independent arbitration panel has found in favor of Medtronic in a case in which Johnson & Johnson/Cordis alleged that the Medtronic Driver stent and several other of the firm's stents infringed certain patents of its subsidiary Cordis. The arbitration panel issued its non-appealable decision on February 20 and the award became final on March 22.

Finding in favor of Medtronic on all issues before it, the panel ruled that the Medtronic stents in question were licensed under a 1997 settlement and cross-license agreement between the companies, and that a 1998 Cordis "covenant not to sue" barred Cordis from filing a law suit that Medtronic vascular products infringed Cordis' patents.