A jury in the U.S. District Court in Denver has awarded $51 million to Medtronic Navigation in a longstanding dispute with BrainLAB AG, of Germany, involving four patents related to image-guided surgical techniques and devices. Medtronic Navigation claimed that BrainLAB AG's VectorVision, Kolibri, Exactrac, and BrainSuite infringed claims of four patents held by Medtronic. Medtronic immediately requested an injunction, but the court declined to rule on this issue at this time. "We will always place a premium on our intellectual property and are extremely happy with the jury's decision in this case," said Pete Wehrly, Medtronic Vice President and President of Medtronic's Spinal and Navigation businesses. BrainLAB is seeking a modification of the jury’s verdict. Final judgment on the case by the District Court is still pending.

BrainLAB Wins Patent Infringement Case – Jury Verdict Overturned

On Friday, February 27, 2006, the US District Court in Denver, Colorado, dismissed the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Medtronic against BrainLAB in 1998. The Court ruled that, as a matter of law, BrainLAB’s image-guided surgery/radiotherapy products do not infringe any of the patents in suit, determining that the evidence does not support a finding of infringement.

In September 2005, a Denver jury had reached a verdict finding that BrainLAB infringed four patents held or licensed by Medtronic, and determined that a reasonable royalty on BrainLAB product sales in the United States amounted to $51 million. The Court’s ruling set aside that jury verdict and precludes the injunction Medtronic had been seeking.

“We are pleased to see that the Court has confirmed the uniqueness of our image-guided technology and that our technology does not infringe Medtronic’s patents,” said Stefan Vilsmeier, BrainLAB founder and CEO. “We look forward to continued success in our surgical navigation business and to supplying our partners with our advanced technology.”