DePuy Spine wins $180 million from Medtronic in Vertex case

June 30, 2009 by MassDevice staff

DePuy Spine Inc. will get a hefty check from Medtronic Inc. after a federal court judgment for $179 million in a patent infringement lawsuit.

The Raynham orthopedics maker, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, and Biedermann Motech GmbH sued Medtronic in 2001, accusing it of violating a spinal surgery screw patent DePuy licensed from Biedermann with its now-discontinued Vertex line of multiaxial screws (Medtronic markets the Vertex Select system these days).

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court slashed the $226.3 million penalty a jury had awarded to DePuy Spine.

The stipulated final judgment by the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts calls for the Minneapolis devices giant to pony up nearly $158 million in lost profit damages, pre-judgment interest of about $13 million and $8.5 million in post-judgment interest by the end of the month.

DePuy Spine owes Medtronic roughly $338,000 for overpayment of royalties.

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