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9 March 2017Americas

Bard does not infringe Gore’s patent, says jury

A jury at the US District Court for the District of Delaware has decided that medical technologies company C R Bard has not infringed a patent owned by W L Gore Associates, a company specialising in products derived from fluoropolymers.

The jury decided yesterday, March 8, that Gore had not proven that the product in dispute, Bard’s Fluency Plus, had infringed claims in Gore’s US number 5,735,892.

The jury also concluded that the asserted claim of the ‘892 patent would have been obvious at the time of the invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Gore filed the lawsuit in 2011 alleging that Bard had infringed its patent centring on ‘intraluminal’ stent graft, a medical technology for surgery.

Gore claimed that Bard infringed its patent by selling the Fluency Plus stent graft.

“Bard’s acts of infringement have injured and damaged Gore,” the company said in its complaint.

It added: “Bard’s infringement has been wilful and will continue to be wilful, making this case exceptional and entitling Gore to increased damages and reasonable attorney’s fees.”

But in its decision clearing Bard, the jury also found that Bard had proven “by clear and convincing evidence” that the ‘892 patent is invalid.