Gore has announced a favourable ruling involving the Gore Helex Septal Occluder. Judge Joan Ericksen of the US District Court for the District of Minnesota, USA, ruled on 23 July in Gore’s favour that the Helex Septal Occluder does not infringe the asserted claims of AGA Medical US patent and granted Gore’s request for summary judgement of non-infringement.
According to a press release, in August 2010, Gore was sued for patent infringement by AGA (which became part of St Jude Medical in November 2010). AGA alleged that the Helex Septal Occluder infringed some claims of AGA’s ‘738 patent which covers certain transcatheter occlusion products for the treatment of heart defects. AGA sought damages against Gore and a permanent injunction prohibiting Gore from selling the Helex Septal Occluder both in the USA and abroad.
“The Gore Helex Septal Occluder has more than 13 years of successful clinical experience for treatment of atrial septal defects and was the first transcatheter device of its kind to use soft expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) patch material with a minimal wire frame,” said Stuart Broyles, associate with the Gore Medical Products Division. “We obtained four US patents related to this innovation. We are happy with Judge Ericksen’s decision.”
