Medical device companies settle spinal therapy disputes
Nevro sued over the launch of a 10kHz spinal cord stimulation system | Boston Scientific negotiates a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence.
Medical device company Boston Scientific has agreed to pay competitor Nevro $85 million to settle litigation over spinal cord therapy technology.
Under the terms of the settlement, announced yesterday, August 1, Nevro will grant Boston Scientific a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to operate spinal cord stimulation technology at frequencies below 1,500 Hz.
As part of the settlement, Nevro has also agreed not to sue for any features in any current Boston Scientific products for frequencies below 1,500 Hz.
In exchange, Boston Scientific will grant Nevro a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence of its asserted patent families and a covenant not to sue for any features embodied in any current Nevro products.
Back in 2016, California-based Nevro sued Boston Scientific over the launch of a 10kHz spinal cord stimulation system, which allegedly infringed its patents. In response, Boston Scientific accused Nevro of infringing four of its patents.
The patents relate to paresthesia-free spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy, which treats pain with short electrical pulses. The therapy relieves pain by delivering electrical pulses to the spinal cord through small electrodes that are implanted near the spinal cord.
In December 2020, Nevro agreed to drop its patent infringement suit. However, in February 2021, Nevro hit Boston Scientific with another lawsuit, alleging that the newly launched WaveWriter Alpha set of products infringe five patents.
Now, according to Nevro’s statement, the settlement concludes all of the existing litigation between Nevro and Boston Scientific.
It gives Boston Scientific the freedom to operate using the features and capabilities embodied in its current line of products for frequencies below 1,500 Hz, while Nevro has the freedom to operate using the features and capabilities embodied in its current line of products.
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