Israeli firm loses battle with Abbot over stents
Mr Justice Brian McGovern yesterday found Abbot Ireland had not infringed the patent on stents, which are inserted into coronary arteries to provide support to keep the blood vessel open.
Medinol, which has its headquarters in Jerusalem, brought the patent infringement action against Abbot Ireland, Abbot Vascular International BVBA, Abbot Cardio Vascular Systems Inc, Abbot Vascular Devices Holland BV, and Abbot Laboratories Inc.
Abbott manufactures the stents in Galway.
Medinol sought a declaration the patent had been infringed while Abbot denied the claim and counter-claimed that the patent should be revoked on grounds including lack of novelty and obviousness.
In his judgment, Mr Justice McGovern noted stents were used to overcome problems in balloon angioplasty and by 1994, were predominantly used in emergency bail-out procedures in cases of abrupt closure of coronary arteries.
There were a number of issues relating to the design of the stents including their strength to ensure a blood vessel wall did not suffer too much recoil, the judge said.
The object of the invention, which was at issue in this patent case, was to provide a flexible stent which minimally shrinks in a longitudinal direction when inserted, he said.
Infringements of patent are governed by a protocol under the European Patent Convention (EPC). Infringement will only occur if the alleged infringement has all of the features of the patent at issue, construed in accordance with the EPC protocol, the judge said.
Having listened to the evidence of experts from both companies and examined drawings related to the patterns and symmetry used in both companies’ versions of the stents, the judge said he was satisfied they were different.
Mr Justice McGovern therefore found the Abbott stents did not infringe the patent in this case.
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