J&J Unit Cleared of $20 Million Verdict Due to Patent Ownership

The Federal Circuit wiped out a $20 million infringement verdict against Johnson & Johnson med tech unit DePuy Synthes, saying the plaintiff hadn’t proven ownership of a pair of patents at the center of the case.

Rasmussen Instruments LLC, a company named for inventor Gary Lynn Rasmussen, won a 2022 verdict for the infringement of US Patent No. 9,492,180, one of two asserted patents covering instruments used during surgical installation of knee replacement implants. On appeal, DePuy contended the inventor transferred his ownership rights in 2006 to a company where he was working, Wright Medical, and he never got ...