Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Boston Scientific sued by Hong Kong stent maker

By Mass High Tech staff

Boston Scientific Corp. has found itself on the receiving end of a patent infringement lawsuit, according to published reports. Hong Kong-based stent maker OrbusNeich Medical Inc. has accused the Natick medical device giant of using parts of its stent design in Boston Scientific’s Taxus Liberte stents, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages OrbusNeich is suing for, according to the article, but does say that its lawsuit claims patent infringement, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Boston Scientific has battled a number of patent infringement allegations in recent years. In January, the company settled a dispute with Minnesota-based Medtronic Inc., a developer of chronic disease treatment; the two companies settled two lawsuits and agreed to hold three others, all of which centered around intellectual property in catheters and stents.

A mid-October patent infringement lawsuit got inherited by Boston Scientific after the company bought CryoCor Inc., a manufacturer of disposable catheter systems. The suit involved CryoCor and CryoCath Technologies Inc., a Montreal-based cryotherapy technology manufacturer.

On Oct. 1, a court ordered Boston Scientific to pay some $703 million in patent damages to rival Johnson & Johnson Co. over a coronary stent dispute. An appeal from Boston Scientific was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.