Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer Secures Federal Circuit Victory on Behalf of Boston Scientific

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer's patent litigators secured a significant Federal Circuit decision clearing Boston Scientific of more than $200 million in royalties after a 12-year long patent contract dispute, Jang v. Boston Scientific Corp.

A cardiologist claimed breach of an agreement relating to patents assigned to Boston Scientific in 2002. After two trips to the Federal Circuit, the case went to trial in 2015. The jury ruled that Boston Scientific's Express stent did not literally infringe the patent, but found that it had infringed two of the asserted patent claims under the doctrine of equivalents. In August 2015, the court conducted a separate bench trial on the issue of whether the cardiologist could prove infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. In October 2015, the court issued a written opinion holding that the cardiologist could not prove infringement, and directed that judgment be entered in Boston Scientific's favor. The cardiologist appealed once again, but the Federal Circuit upheld the lower court's decision, concluding that the company is shielded from liability by the rarely invoked ensnarement defense.

Law360 named the case to the top of its "Legal Lions Weekly Verdicts" (subscription required).

Intellectual Property co-chair Matthew Wolf led the team, which included partners John Nilsson and Ed Han, and associate Allen Secretov.