Profession
Surgeon receives payment for patents
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 16, 2005
Medtronic Inc. in late April announced that it reached an agreement to pay $1.35 billion to Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Gary K. Michelson, MD. The settlement resolves patent infringement litigation that Dr. Michelson initiated against the company and shifts ownership of spinal surgery technology and techniques from Dr. Michelson and his company to Medtronic.
Medtronic, a medical technology company based in Minneapolis, will pay Dr. Michelson $800 million to acquire patents and $550 million to settle the legal dispute, in which a federal jury last year told the company to pay the physician $510 million.
Medtronic said it will acquire ownership of more than 100 U.S. patents pertaining to novel spinal technology and techniques. The deal also transfers ownership of some future inventions related to the diagnosis and treatment of the spine conceived or acquired by Dr. Michelson or his firm.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/05/16/prbf0516.htm.
