COLIBRI HEART VALVE LLC v. MEDTRONIC COREVALVE, LLC

Before Taranto , Hughes, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Summary: The Federal Circuit reversed a $106 million infringement verdict, holding that Colibri’s doctrine-of-equivalents arguments were barred by prosecution history estoppel because it cancelled a related claim during prosecution.

Colibri sued Medtronic, a manufacturer of replacement heart valves, for infringement of a patented method for implanting an artificial heart valve that gives the surgeon a second chance to get the positioning of the valve right. During prosecution of its patent, Colibri pursued two closely related independent claims reciting the do-over method. The first claim recited “pushing” the valv

See Full Page