Texas Surgical Center Must Face Patent Suit Over Operating Room

A Texas surgical center must face an infringement suit over patents on a hybrid operating room, failing to convince a federal judge the patents are invalid because they cover only an abstract idea.

Dr. L. Philipp Wall, a vascular surgeon, is the inventor of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,322,188 and 9,334,664, which describe a hybrid operating room with, among other things, an imaging device and an operating table, inside an ambulatory surgical center or office building.

Heart of Texas Surgery Center PLLC and Heart of Texas Cath Lab PLLC argued the patent covers only the abstract idea of taking a ...