A jury found Johnson & Johnson's orthopaedics and neurosurgical device division guilty of violating a patent owned by an orthopaedic surgeon in Utah, and DePuy Synthes now faces a fine of $20 million.
Gary Lynn Rasmussen, M.D., charged DePuy with using two of his patented innovations "without his consent or pay" in the case, which was first filed in October 2020. His mechanics supposedly became a part of DePuy's Attune Knee replacement system.
The two in question patents describe a tool that can help maintain knee ligament tension and correct the position of the joint during an arthroplasty treatment.
According to Rasmussen's claim, the Balanced Sizer component of the Attune system uses his technique to modify ligament tension around the knee joint.
Based on the fact that the J&J subsidiary used his documentation to pursue its own patent applications dating back at least to that year, Rasmussen claimed that DePuy was aware of his patents for the invention since at least 2009.
The surgeon also talked about his efforts between 2012 and 2014 to licence the technology to DePuy. He claimed that during that time, he met with company representatives, gave them presentations and patent information about his technology, and even took part in panel discussions organised by J&J.
According to the complaint, the licencing negotiations "broke down" in 2014 before a settlement could be reached. Rasmussen claimed that following this, DePuy continued to rely on his patent applications to enforce their own.
DePuy was charged by the surgeon with seven charges of willful patent infringement. He insisted that DePuy's use of the Balanced Sizer device went beyond merely "making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing" it; rather, it also included encouraging customers and other third parties to use it by giving them "instructions, documentation, tutorials, marketing materials, and the like" about it.
As per the case filings, a jury in Massachusetts district court last week found DePuy guilty of violating one of the two asserted patents by selling its Balanced Sizer device. DePuy's counterclaims that Rasmussen's patents are invalid, however, were completely refuted.
The jury consequently recommended a $20 million fine for the device manufacturer. However, they also came to the conclusion that DePuy willfully violated Rasmussen's patent, which ordinarily provides a judge the discretion to raise the suggested punishment.
DePuy recently issued the following statement to the media: "While we are pleased that the jury found that the Balanced Sizer and Balancing Blocks do not willfully infringe the '583 patent, we respectfully disagree with their findings regarding the Balanced Sizer and the '180 patent, and we will be seeking post-trial relief from the trial court immediately, and, if necessary, we will file an appeal."