Biolitec loses Supreme Court bid to overturn $75m contempt ruling

German medical laser maker Biolitec (ETR:BIB) today lost its bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court review an appeals court decision upholding a $75 million contempt penalty in its longtime legal dispute with  AngioDynamics (NSDQ:ANGO).

Judge Michael Ponsor of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts slapped Biolitec with a $75 million contempt ruling last year, after finding that it deliberately effected a so-called “downstream merger” to move its incorporation to Austria to escape jurisdiction in U.S. courts. Ponsor’s harshly-worded ruling trebled the $23.2 million awarded to AngioDynamics by a New York court in 2012, adding $3.6 million in interest and another $1.9 million in legal costs, according to court documents.

Ponsor also issued an arrest warrant for ex-Biolitec CEO Wolfgang Neuberger and imposed an injunction on sales of some of Biolitec’s vascular offerings. Ponsor also levied a hefty fine schedule against Biolitec to compel it to undo the merger, beginning with $1 million in May 2013, escalating to $2 million the next month, $4 million in July 2013, $8 million in August and $8 million a month thereafter.

Biolitec appealed Ponsor’s rulings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. In June the appeals court affirmed the lower court judge and scorched Biolitec in dismissing the appeals, but ruled against the indefinite escalation of the penalties, which reached $160 million. Ponsor reduced the penalties to $75 million on remand from the 1st Circuit, according to court documents.

In a certiorari petition filed July 1 with the Supreme Court, Biolitec argued that the 1st Circuit decision adds to the confusion on the difference between criminal and civil contempt. The high court today declined to grant the petition without comment. That means the 1st Circuit’s decision stands, putting Biolitec on the hook for the $75 million penalty tab.

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