A federal jury in California said Wednesday that a unit of Medtronic must pay $106.5 million to competitor Colibri Heart Valve LLC for patent infringement.
After a seven-day trial in Santa Ana, Calif., the jury concluded that Evolut devices, sold by Medtronic CoreValve LLC, violate a Colibri patent for replacing heart valves in patients with heart disease.
Medical device maker Medtronic plans to appeal the case.
"Medtronic strongly disagrees with the ruling and will continue to vigorously defend against these allegations at the appellate level," the company said in a statement Thursday. "In the meantime, Colibri's patent has no impact on ongoing operations, as the patent expired in January 2022."
Colorado-based Colibri sued Medtronic in December 2019, alleging doctors use Medtronic's devices in a way that infringes Colibri's patent, which covers a method for controlling the deployment of self-expanding artificial heart valves.
Colibri's original complaint stated that Colibri CEO Joseph Horn met with Medtronic staffers in May 2014, outlining its success using the company's heart valve replacement product in a patient.
Medtronic secured approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its competing CoreValve System in June 2014.
Colibri held a follow-up conference call with Medtronic the following month to discuss its patent portfolio, the complaint says.
The Colorado company claims Medtronic's CoreValve products "include cross-linked biological tissue and a delivery system that can be guided through a patient's artery to the heart where they are positioned and used to replace diseased valves, as taught by Colibri's patents, and are inserted using Colibri's patented method of controlled release."
Colibri alleges Medtronic gave "guidance and instructions" to surgeons for using its CoreValve products in a manner that violates its patents.
Medtronic CoreValve LLC is based in Santa Ana.
Reuters contributed to this report.
