Score the final round for device giant Medtronic Inc. in its three-year patent-infringement battle with AGA Medical Inc. over AGA’s Amplatzer cardiac plug.
The two companies agreed to end the litigation with AGA paying Medtronic $35 million over four years. The final payment is due in 2014, according to a statement from AGA.
In addition, Medtronic will grant AGA a license to use patents from its so-called “Jervis family” of patents, which cover the technology at the center of the dispute, according to a statement from Medtronic.
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The patents cover the use of stress-to-restrain, self-expanding medical devices made of nitinol, which is a shape-memory metal used in medical devices. The patents expire in 2018, according to Medtronic.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which eliminates much of the expense and uncertainty associated with the litigation,” said John Barr, AGA’s chief executive.
Medtronic achieved an earlier victory in the case in August 2009, when a San Francisco jury awarded it $57 million. That decision also called for AGA to pay 11 percent of royalties to Medtronic on future U.S. sales of the Amplatzer devices through 2018.
Last week, AGA received federal approval to begin a clinical trial of its Amplatzer cardiac plug, which is designed to prevent blood clots in the heart that can lead to strokes.
