SeaSpine Loses Bid to Trim Patent From Surgeon-Inventor’s Suit

An orthopedic surgeon and inventor with a history of litigating his intellectual property rights fended off SeaSpine Holdings Corp.’s attempt to get a federal judge in Delaware to cancel a patent at issue in their clash over tools and systems to align the spine.

SeaSpine had argued that Dr. Mark A. Barry’s invention isn’t entitled to patent protection because it involves what SeaSpine considers an abstract idea: “rotating two or more vertebrae at the same time,” also known as “en bloc derotation.” The patent relates to systems and methods for correcting spinal deformities, including scoliosis.

“I am not convinced ...