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June 02, 2023
Following years of litigation, two jury trials, and a trip to the Federal Circuit, AngioDynamics, represented by attorneys from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, has prevailed in a patent litigation commenced by C.R. Bard and Bard Peripheral Vascular, subsidiaries of Becton-Dickinson.
On June 1, 2023, the Court set aside a jury verdict and issued its judgment, finding patents asserted by Bard to be invalid as anticipated, indefinite, and ineligible, and not willfully infringed. The opinion highlights the interplay between two federal agencies: the FDA and the USPTO. Both agencies undoubtedly play a critical role in the medical field, but as the court noted, “[w]hile the PTO governs the patents, the FDA governs the marketing” of a product. Notably, the USPTO and the FDA have recently launched collaboration efforts aimed at ensuring consistent disclosures are made to both agencies to promote innovation and strong patents.
Bard filed suit against AngioDynamics in 2015, alleging infringement of multiple patents relating to the identification of medical devices used for accessing a patient’s vascular system. During the litigation Bard reconstrued the Court’s definitions of several key patent terms, leading the jury to return a verdict that the Bard patents were valid and willfully infringed.
Cadwalader attorneys moved to set aside the verdict for being contrary to the law and facts, and the Court agreed, finding the patent claims invalid because they had been anticipated by multiple pieces of prior art, including Bard’s and AngioDynamics’s own existing products.
“The decision represents a significant victory not only for AngioDynamics, but also for medical practitioners and patients who will continue to be able to choose to use AngioDynamics’s vascular access devices,” said Danielle Tully, Cadwalader’s lead lawyer on the case.
AngioDynamics was represented at trial by Cadwalader attorneys Danielle Tully, John Moehringer, Michael Powell, Dash Cole, John Augelli, Catherine Taylor, Deanna Thompson, Jenn Rabbino, Michael Glenn, Tyler Ricker, and Jess Talar.
