After years of bitter legal fights, peace could be rearing its ugly head in the stent world. Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson today announced a $716 million settlement involving more than a dozen stent-related patent lawsuits. In July, Medtronic said it would pay Abbott $400 million to settle their patent battles over stents. Medtronic also reached a deal earlier this year to resolve stent-patent disputes with both Boston Scientific and J&J. The latest settlement put to rest a 12-year old patent suit over claims related to J&J’s Palmaz stent and Boston Scientific’s NIR stent. Several other U.S. and Canadian

disputes were also settled, the companies said. Read the WSJ story here . In a decision last year, a court ordered Boston Scientific to pay $703 million in one case, which makes up the bulk of today’s settlement. But other litigation between the two companies isn’t covered by today’s deal. The WSJ notes the settlement doesn’t appear to resolve a $237 million liability that Boston Scientific has estimated it will have to pay to J&J in another case. Image via Abbott

Originally posted here:
Boston Scientific, J&J Deal is Latest Sign of Stent Suit Detente