MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Medtronic finally extricated itself from the last in a series of stent-related patent fights after a $400 million settlement with Abbott Laboratories, which the company announced Monday.
The big figure in these settlements is actually well beyond of $700 million, which is how much Medtronic has paid in legal disputes with Abbott, Johnson & Johnson and other companies contesting intellectual property rights. As part of Monday’s settlement, Medtronic also paid $42 million to evYsio Medical Devices.
In May, Medtronic paid $270 million to Johnson & Johnson to settle a dispute over stent royalties. In January it settled two cases with and Boston Scientific. As part of that agreement, both companies stopped other litigation against the other.
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“Medtronic will now focus more resources on efforts to improve health care for patients with vascular disease,” Medtronic stated Monday’s press release.
With legal hurdles cleared, it will be interesting to see whether Medtronic can do a better job taking American market share from its competitors through its Endeavor stent line. Dow Jones points out that the core of the latest dispute with Abbott dealt with Medtronic’s ability to use Abbott’s Rapid Exchange delivery system, which lets one doctor insert stents into place. Medtronic wasn’t able to use Rapid Exchange in the United States until a legal ruling last year, which then caused Abbott to sue for infringement.
Meanwhile, Medtronic still trails Abbott and Boston Scientific in the American stent market.