Here are seven spine and orthopedic patent lawsuits that have been filed or settled so far in 2024:
1. Medical devicemaker Axonics won a patent infringement trial against Medtronic. Medtronic alleged that the company copied three elements of its sacral neuromodulation technology and sought $150 million from the device manufacturer.
2. Mighty Oak Medical and Medacta entered a settlement and license agreement to end a patent dispute related to patient-specific pedicle guides. Under the agreement, Medacta has a non-exclusive license to Mighty Oak's patents related to the pedicle screw guides.
3. A federal judge upheld a 2023 patent infringement verdict in favor of Globus Medical. In November 2019, the Moskowitz family, which holds spinal fusion implant patents, sued Globus Medical alleging direct and indirect infringement.
4. RSB Spine sued Salt Lake City-based devicemaker Innovasis over a patent for the InterPlate device. RSB Spine alleged Innovasis knowingly infringed a U.S. patent.
5. DePuy Synthes, Johnson & Johnson's orthopedic company, asked an appeals court to reverse a $20 million award granted to Gary Rasmussen, MD, in a 2022 patent case. The verdict, reached in March 2022, centered on the "Balanced Sizer" product included in DePuy's Attune knee system. A federal jury found DePuy Synthes infringed on a device invented by Dr. Rasmussen that reshapes existing bone and cartilage before knee replacement procedures.
6. An appeal board for the European Patent Office revoked a pain-management system patent belonging to medical device company Nevro following a challenge from its competitors Medtronic and Boston Scientific.
7. French orthopedic devicemaker Safe Medical saw another win against Neo Medical over patent infringement. The Paris Judicial Court upheld its judgment from a May 2021 ruling that Neo Medical infringed on one of Safe Medical's patents. Neo Medical was found to be guilty of infringing the patent for a pedicle screw kit.