Medtronic moves for patent infringement litigation with Axonics to resume

Medtronic (MDT) announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or PTAB, of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has affirmed the validity of claims in two of its patents in an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit filed by Medtronic against Axonics (AXNX) over sacral neuromodulation,or SNM, technologies. “Cumulatively, the PTAB has now upheld the validity of five of the Medtronic patents at issue in this lawsuit,” the company stated. Medtronic will now ask the federal court in the Central District of California, where Medtronic’s patent infringement lawsuit is pending, to lift its stay on the lawsuit and proceed to trial on the five valid and affirmed patents so Medtronic can present its case in front of a jury. Medtronic also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission or ITC, along with a parallel action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to block Axonics from improperly importing and selling products that infringe two additional Medtronic patents related to the MRI compatibility of implantable medical devices. “It’s now past time for Axonics to stand up in a court of law and take responsibility for its unauthorized use and infringement of Medtronic’s intellectual property. We respect the intellectual property of innovators, and our patent system exists to benefit society by encouraging the kind of innovation that Medtronic invests in. We are pleased with the PTAB’s decision, and we are confident that the evidence at trial will show that Axonics improperly used and profited from Medtronic’s patented technology,” said Mira Sahney, president of the pelvic health business in the neuroscience portfolio at Medtronic.