Fed. Cir. Nixes $1.2 Million Medical Device Design Patent Award

Medical Components Inc. and Martech Medical Products Inc. persuaded the Federal Circuit to overturn a $1.2 million verdict in a suit alleging they infringed a patent covering the design of a handle on a medical device.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that the sister medical device companies infringed a design patent owned by Larry Junker. The ruling came after the judge had rejected the companies’ argument that the patent was invalid under the on-sale bar.

The on-sale bar blocks patent applications filed more than a year after the initial sale of an invention.

The ...