Sept 19 (Askume) – Medical device maker Axonics convinced a California federal court jury that it did not infringe rival Medtronic’s (MDT.N) patent on neurostimulation technology .
A jury on Wednesday agreed with Axonics that its R15 neurostimulation system did not infringe Medtronic’s patents related to its device, which is used to treat incontinence and overactive bladder.
A Medtronic spokesman said Thursday that the company disagrees with the decision, will seek to overturn it and will file a related case against Axonix with the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Exonics CEO Raymond Cohen said in a statement that he was pleased with the verdict and that Medtronic’s lawsuit “aims to restrict competition, limit patient and physician choice, and protect the company’s existing monopoly in sacral neuromodulation.”
Both companies make medical devices that are implanted in a patient’s lower back to treat bladder and bowel control problems by stimulating the sacral nerves. Medtronic filed a lawsuit in 2019 alleging that Axonix’s device uses the same neurostimulation technology as Medtronic’s InterStim system.
Axonix has denied the allegations and argued that three of the patents challenged in the suit are invalid. On Wednesday, a jury upheld the validity of the patents and found that Axonix’s products did not infringe them.
Axonix separately sued Medtronic in California federal court in 2022, accusing the company of monopolizing the systems market and making false statements about Axonix products. Medtronic has denied the claims and the case is ongoing.
The case is Medtronic Inc. v. Axonix Modulation Technologies Inc., U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 8:19-cv-02115.
Medtronic: Nimalka Wickramasekera, Brian Nisbet, George Lombardi and Peggy Dayton of Winston & Strawn.
For Axonics: Matthew Powers, Aaron Nathan, Azra Hadzimehmedovic and William Nelson of Tenegrity Law Group, Olson Stein;
