Jury orders medical company to pay doctor for infringements
Publish date: 21 October 2004
Issue Number: 1200
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Corruption
A US company that produces medical devices has been ordered by a jury to pay a doctor and inventor of spinal repair equipment $400m in punitive damages.
This follows an earlier ruling that the medical device maker was guilty of patent infringement, reports the Financial Times. The punitive damages brings the total award to at least $560m that Medtronic and its Sofamor Danek spine unit could be forced to pay Dr Gary Michelson, an inventor of spinal surgery tools and products. Medtronic\'s Sofamor spine unit is allowed to keep using Michelson\'s technology but could be forced to pay higher future licensing fees on product sales. Full report in the Financial Times