Have you looked at the patents of Brookhill-Wilk?
ISRG and RBOT to merge.....
Intuitive Surgical's Favorable Patent Ruling Reversed
Wednesday April 16, 6:53 pm ET
By Robert Grant, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A federal appeals court reversed a ruling that Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s da Vinci surgical system doesn't infringe patents held by Brookhill-Wilk 1 LLC.
The order, issued Friday, remanded the case back to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to a document obtained Wednesday by Dow Jones Newswires
Sales of Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci surgical system accounted for a majority of the company's $72 million of revenue in 2002.
In a lawsuit filed in September 2000, Brookhill-Wilk accused Intuitive Surgical of violating patents it holds related to methods and devices for surgery from a remote location. Brookhill-Wilk contended remote surgery refers to a procedure by a doctor from any location that is at least an arm's length from the patient.
Intuitive Surgical's argument, which won dismissal of the complaint without prejudice in November 2001, contended remote surgery refers to a procedure that is performed by a doctor who is located outside the operating room.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit ruled that the lower court's interpretation of remote location was "erroneous."
In March, Intuitive Surgical ended a series of patent disputes going back two years by agreeing to merge with Computer Motion Inc. (NasdaqNM:RBOT - News) , a rival developer of high-tech robotic surgery systems.
A Computer Motion spokesman declined to comment, citing the quiet period that follows its filing of merger documents with the SEC March 28.
Brookhill-Wilk filed a similar lawsuit against Computer Motion in February 2001, alleging violation of the same patents cited in its complaint against Intuitive Surgical.
After Intuitive Surgical won a favorable ruling, Brookhill-Wilk and Computer Motion agreed to dismiss the complaint without prejudice to refiling, pending the outcome of the litigation with Intuitive Surgical. |
