Alphatec touts stay in NuVasive patent infringement case

Alphatec (NSDQ:ATEC) said today that a U.S. District Court granted a stay in a the patent litigation between it and competitor NuVasive (NSDQ:NUVA) while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers recently filed challenges from Alphatec.

The Carlsbad, Calif.-based company said that the stay, which was agreed to by both companies, was granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on February 6, and vacated a December 9, 2019 trial date.

In the infringement suit, submitted last February, San Diego-based NuVasive claims it created the XLIF method for fusing vertebral disks to reduce nerve damage and that Alphatec’s device, the Battalion lateral system, infringed on their products.

Alphatec said that last May, the court dismissed claims from NuVasive that Alphatec infringed design patents covering implants and sequential dilators used in lateral surgery, and in July denied NuVasive’s motion for preliminary injunction.

Alphatec said that last month the court rejected NuVasive’s motion to dismiss Alphatec’s claims that NuVasive “intentionally had misled the Patent Office as a means of obtaining certain patents asserted against [Alphatec],” according to a press release.

The new challenges filed by Alphatec seek to invalidate “certain NuVasive patents covering its CoRoent lateral implants,” Alphatec said.

“We are extremely pleased with the many legal successes that we have seen to date in this lawsuit, including the court’s entry of the stay. I am confident that, upon full review, the Patent Office will invalidate the challenged NuVasive implant patents.  While we welcome the positive legal developments, we are not looking to distinguish ATEC in the courtroom. Instead, we are on a mission to differentiate ATEC in the operating room, leveraging our organic innovation machine to improve surgical outcomes. With twelve new product releases slated for 2019, including the highly anticipated launch of our revolutionary nerve monitoring platform, we are increasingly well-positioned to be the newleader of innovation in spine,” chair & CEO Pat Miles said in a press release.

Alphatec said it is hopeful that the stay will remain in effect until July, when it expects an answer from the Patent Office.

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from MassDevice http://bit.ly/2N0Ig5L