Bard convinces U.S. appeals court to revive medical-injection device patents

Becton Dickinson and Co

17/02/2023 21:24

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      Bard's infringement case against MedComp over injection
'access
ports' reinstated
    

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      MedComp also gets chance to save countersuit against Bard
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       (Reuters) - Becton Dickinson's  BDX.N  C.R. Bard Inc on
Friday won a ruling from a U.S. appeals court reinstating three
patents related to its PowerPort devices for delivering repeated
medical injections.
    The decision from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit revives a long-running
infringement lawsuit Bard brought against Pennsylvania-based
Medical Components Inc, which makes competing devices.
    The court on Friday also gave Medcomp a new chance to prove
that a patent it had accused Bard of infringing was valid.
    Medcomp had no comment on the ruling. Representatives for
Becton Dickinson did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
    Bard sued Medcomp in 2012 over MedComp's Pro-Fuse CT and
Dignity devices in Utah federal court. Bard accused the devices
of infringing patents related to its PowerPort, an "access port"
for delivering repeated injections of fluids like medicine or
blood to patients without using invasive surgeries or new
intravenous lines. Medcomp countersued Bard for infringing one
of its patents.
    Becton Dickinson's medication delivery devices, including
the PowerPort, earned the company more than $2.4 billion in
sales last fiscal year, according to a company report with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
    The case was paused for seven years based on related
proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
    The Utah court found both companies' patents invalid in
2021. It said the patents, which cover markings used to
differentiate between types of ports that are visible on X-rays,
covered unpatentable abstract ideas.
    The Federal Circuit revived the patents on Friday, citing
its 2020 decision in a related dispute between Bard and rival
AngioDynamics Inc  ANGO.O . 
    Bard's patents, like the ones in the AngioDynamics case,
covered a novel way to use radiographic markers to convey
information, the appeals court said. 
    The Federal Circuit also ordered the Utah court to
reconsider whether Medcomp's similar patent was valid.
    The case is C.R. Bard Inc v. Medical Components Inc, U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 22-1136.
    For Bard: Kathleen Sullivan of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &
Sullivan
    For Medcomp: Alfred Zaher of Montgomery McCracken Walker &
Rhoads
 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))