Intuitive resolves robotic surgery dispute with J&J unit
Dispute centred on alleged infringement of several patents related to keyhole surgery | Big pharma company acquired defendant firm in $3.4bn deal four years ago.
Intuitive Surgical has reached a settlement with a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiary over eight patents covering robotic surgery, concluding a five-year legal battle.
The medical device maker and the defendant, Auris, both confirmed the settlement before the US District Court for the District of Delaware on Tuesday, August 8.
The dispute emerged in August 2018, when Intuitive sued Auris in Delaware over claims that the J&J unit had infringed its da Vinci surgical system, with the introduction of its Auris Robotic Endoscopy System in 2016 and its Monarch Endoscopy Platform two years later.
In 2019 J&J acquired Auris Health for approximately $3.4 billion in cash.
According to Intuitive’s complaint, the subsidiary infringed eight of its patents—US numbers: 6,491,70; 8,142,447; 8,620,473; 9,452,276; 6,246,200; 6,800,056; 8,801,601, and 6,522,906.
Intuitive argued that these patents cover its blockbuster da Vinci system, which enables surgeons to operate through a few small incisions or the navel from a nearby ergonomic console.
The system also features a magnified 3D HD vision system and tiny, wristed instruments that bend and rotate with much greater dexterity than the human hand, added Intuitive.
It also held that the development of the da Vinci System in 1995 greatly enhanced surgeons’ ability to operate with acute vision, precision, and control.
In 2000, the da Vinci system became the first robotic surgical system cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for general laparoscopic surgery.
In subsequent years, the FDA cleared the da Vinci system for thoracoscopic (chest) surgery, and certain cardiac, urologic, gynecologic, paediatric, and transoral otolaryngology procedures.
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