University of California sues St. Jude Medical for patent infringement

The regents of the University of California, the institution’s governing body, has filed a complaint against medical device company St. Jude Medical for allegedly infringing patents covering a method of treating atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm an d can severely limit physical activity.

The US patents involved are numbers 6,164,283 and 6,502,576, both titled “Device and method for forming circumferential block in a pulmonary vein”.

As explained in the complaint, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, by the early 2000s the patented method had become recognised as the most effective means of treating atrial fibrillation, encouraging many doctors to perform the method on patients.

“Indeed, by no later than 2006, SJM was sponsoring medical symposia at which leading cardiologists taught the use of SJM devices to perform the patented method,” said the complaint. It added: “The regents’ patents, and in particular the asserted patents, are widely cited in patent applications filed by SJM and numerous other medical device companies.”

The regents has asked the court for a ruling that St. Jude has infringed the asserted claims.

It has also asked the court to award it compensation for damages, as well as costs for bringing the case to court.