TriVascular loses appeal in patent spat with vascular stent inventor

TriVascular Technologies (NSDQ:TRIV) last Friday lost an appeal in a vascular stent patent spat after a Federal Circuit court upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling that found the stent’s patent, held by a separate inventor, was not invalid due to obviousness. The court upheld the ruling on the grounds that TriVascular didn’t demonstrate that the patent, held by Shaun Samuels, was invalid because of obviousness, nor did they find that the board was in error in its claims construction process, according to court documents. “…We find no error in the board’s claim construction or its judgment that TriVascular has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that the asserted claims are invalid as obvious. Accordingly, we affirm,” Judges O’Malley and Wallach wrote in the court ruling. Earlier this month, TriVascular and Endologix (NSDQ:ELGX) said that they closed their $221 million merger, uniting 2 of the stent graft market’s smaller players. Both companies makes devices for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms; Irvine, Calif.-based Endologix makes 2 lines of stent grants, the Nellix and AFX devices, while Santa Rosa, Calif.-based TriVascular makes the Ovation stent graft. In November the companies said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Justice Dept. granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, which had been slated to expire Dec. 9. The cash-and-stock deal, an...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Business/Financial News Legal News Stents TriVascular Source Type: news