Philips and Zoll near defibrillator patent settlement

Technology company Philips and Massachusetts-based Zoll Medical appear to be nearing a settlement in their patent dispute over defibrillators.

On Tuesday, November 28 the parties filed a request to extend a temporary stay of all deadlines and rulings at the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Earlier in November, the court had granted a joint stay motion. The companies were ordered to file either a stipulated dismissal or joint status report by November 28.

“The parties are still actively engaged in settlement discussions but require additional time to potentially resolve this matter,” said the stay extension request.

District Judge Nathaniel Gorton granted the motion the following day.

Philips and Zoll had jointly proposed the date of December 18 for either the filing of a stipulated dismissal or a joint status report.

Back in August, a Massachusetts jury awarded Philips $10.4 million but also fined it $3.3 million in the seven-year patent infringement lawsuit against Zoll.

In 2010, Philips accused Zoll of infringement through the sale of heart defibrillators.

Two years later, in a second amended complaint, Philips claimed that Zoll had infringed 15 US patents, including numbers 5,607,454; 5,749,905; and 5,879,374.

Zoll counterclaimed, asserting infringement of its own patents, including US numbers 5,330,526 and 5,391,187.

The jury awarded Philips $8.9 million for infringement of its ‘374 patent and awarded $1.5 million for infringement of the ‘454 and ‘905 patents.

But the jury also found that Philips had infringed two of Zoll’s patents, ordering Philips to pay $3.3 million.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.