AGA Denied Permission to Appeal U.K. Patent Decision

June 28, 2010 – AGA Medical has been denied the right to appeal a decision in a United Kingdom patent case concerning structural heart occluders.

The decision, made by the Patents Court of the High Court, Chancery Division, in 2009, declared that Occlutech’s range of Figulla atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) occluders do not infringe the U.K. part of European Patent 0 808 138. AGA Medical decided to appeal this decision, but the U.K. Court of Appeal (civil division) in London announced its decision confirming that said Figulla ASD and PFO occluders do not infringe said patent.

AGA asked for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court (formerly called the House of Lords), but that application was refused. It is now open to AGA to make an application direct to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal, but permission is granted only sparingly.

Occlusion devices are used to treat structural heart disease, including structural heart defects and abnormalities such as ASD and PFO, an undesired channel between the heart’s two atria, present in up to 25 percent of the population, in minimally invasive, nonsurgical procedures. The market for PFO occluders is expected to expand significantly as the link between PFO and stroke as well as severe migraine becomes increasingly well documented.