Medtronic Gets Stent Ruling Reversed

Medical devicemaker Medtronic recently said a federal district court reversed an earlier ruling that two of the company's stents violated a patent held by rival devicemaker Guidant.

The company said the U.S. District Court in Delaware reversed a Jan. 5 ruling that Medtronic's S7 and Driver coronary stents violated one claim of Guidant's "Lau" patent.

The reversal comes ahead of a jury trial set to begin Feb. 7 to determine infringement and validity issues related to the Lau patents. Other decisions made by the court on Jan. 5, including a ruling that certain Boston Scientific stents don't infringe Medtronic patents, were not affected by the reversal.