French Patent Court Rules Against Abbott’s DES

Jan. 5, 2007 — A French court has ruled that Abbott Laboratories’ Xience V drug-eluting coronary stents infringe patents that are under exclusive worldwide license to Medtronic from evYsio Medical Devices ULC.

AFX News Limited reports that the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris ruled that Abbott's Xience V DES infringes evYsio's European Patent No. EP-B- 0 888 093 and has awarded evYsio the right to enjoin the importation, offering for sale, or sale of the Xience V stent in France.

evYsio, a private Canadian company, says the court ruled in its favor in a patent infringement lawsuit it brought against affiliates of Abbott. The injunction is in effect, however, Abbott may appeal the decision.

According to an AFX article, evYsio as well as Medtronic have started infringement lawsuits in other countries alleging that Abbott's MULTI-LINK Vision and/or Xience V coronary stents infringe patents in the U.S., Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany.