CoreValve, Inc. (CoreValve) has prevailed in a patent infringement lawsuit with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (Edwards Lifesciences) in the UK. The High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, found that CoreValve’s ReValving system for transcatheter aortic valve replacement does not infringe any of the claims of the Andersen patent held by Edwards.
The UK court joins the Regional Court of Dusseldorf, which rendered a decision in October 2008, in finding that Edwards’ European Andersen patent does not cover CoreValve’s ReValving system. Because Edwards has only filed European lawsuits in the U.K. and Germany, these rulings protect patient access to CoreValve’s proprietary system for percutaneous aortic valve replacement in high-risk patients with advanced aortic valve disease throughout Europe.
“We are gratified by the decision in the U.K. court. While an appeal of this ruling is possible, we will continue to vigorously defend our own intellectual property and our legal right to continue to clinically evaluate and market our ReValving system for the treatment of patients worldwide. Last year more than 2,000 patients outside the United States received a CoreValve ReValving system, and we hope twice as many patients will be treated with our technology in 2009,” said Daniel Lemaitre, CoreValve’s president and chief executive officer.