USPTO denies Edwards' MitraClip patent challenge
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has denied an inter partes review petition from Edwards Lifesciences, which argued that certain claims relating to Abbott’s MitraClip mitral valve repair device are unpatentable.
The office found that Edwards has “not established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on its assertion that claims unpatentable,” and hence the “petition is denied as to all challenged claims of the patent number 8,057,493 patent and no trial is instituted.”
Abbott had done more than make alterations to already existing and patented heart treatment technology, the USPTO found.
This development is the latest in a long-running dispute between the two companies. In the early summer of 2019, Edwards filed a USPTO petition, claiming that it had “established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing in showing that at least one challenged claim is unpatentable”, arguing that some of the IP claims are unpatentable, citing earlier mitral valve repair device patents.
Edwards had wanted a review carried out on a patent originally awarded to Evalve, a company subsequently purchased by Abbott for $410M in late 2009. Evalve manufactures devices for minimally invasive repair of cardiac mitral valves.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.
