Doctor Files Patent-Infringement Suit Vs Abbott Over Stents

A doctor who succeeded in a patent-infringement battle against Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) over heart stents has filed suit in federal court against Abbott Laboratories Inc. (ABT), alleging Abbott has also infringed upon his stent patent.

The complaint from Dr. Bruce N. Saffran, a New Jersey radiologist, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Monday. He alleges that Abbott's "Xience" medicated stent, a small device used to prop open heart arteries and keep them from narrowing due to scar tissue, infringes a patent from 1997 that he owns.

"Abbott believes that this patent is not valid and its product does not infringe," Abbott spokeswoman Adelle Infante said in response. "We will vigorously defend ourselves against these allegations."

Saffran filed the infringement suit against Boston Scientific over the same patent and in the same court in December 2005. He also filed a suit against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which also makes heart stents, in October 2007 over the same issue.

The case against J&J is scheduled for trial in mid-2011, J&J noted in a quarterly filing made earlier this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the Boston Scientific case, a jury in February 2008 awarded Saffran $431 million in damages, and a judge later added $69 million in pre-judgment interest. While Boston Scientific appealed the case, the two sides struck a deal in March this year over a reduced amount, which Boston Scientific covered with a $50 million charge in the first quarter.

Abbott's Xience stents have been on sale outside the U.S. for about three years and reached the U.S. market last summer. Boston Scientific also sells Xience under the name "Promus," then shares profits with Abbott under a deal linked to the companies' purchase of Guidant Corp. in 2006.

Boston Scientific's legal battle with Saffran involved the company's "Taxus"-brand stents.

-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; [e-mail]