A Denver jury awarded $51 million Friday to a Louisville-based division of medical-device giant Medtronic Inc. in a long-standing patent-infringement dispute with a German rival.
The award is one of the largest in Colorado this year.
The jury found that BrainLAB AG infringed on four patents belonging to Medtronic Navigation Inc. for its computer imaging products used by surgeons.
Medtronic had sought at least $144 million in lost profits and royalty payments during the two-and-a-half-week trial in U.S District Court in Denver.
“We will always place a premium on our intellectual property and are extremely happy with the jury’s decision in this case,” said Medtronic vice president Pete Wehrly.
Medtronic Navigation’s technology gives surgeons three-dimensional images of a patient’s anatomy from multiple angles during an operation. It is used in brain, spinal and orthopedic surgeries.
Researchers at St. Louis University and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, who helped develop Medtronic’s technology, also were plaintiffs in the 7-year-old suit.
BrainLAB had argued that the technology behind its surgical navigation tools differs from Medtronic’s.
“BrainLAB is surprised and disappointed with the verdict and believes that the evidence does not support a finding of infringement on any of the patents in the suit,” said spokeswoman Gabriella Cyranski. “We are confident to succeed on appeal based on the facts.”
Medtronic Navigation, known as Surgical Navigation Technology Inc. until it was sold in 1998 to Minneapolis-based Medtronic, employs more than 140 workers in Louisville.
Munich-based BrainLAB, a privately held company, employs about 670 people worldwide. Its U.S. office is in Redwood City, Calif.
taff writer Greg Griffin can be reached at 303-820-1241 or at ggriffin@denverpost.com.
