BEAUMONT — Dr. Mark A. Barry, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon based on the West Coast, was awarded $20.3 million in damages from Medtronic Inc. after a federal jury found that the medical device company infringed his patents.
Dr. Barry sued Medtronic in 2014 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Texas for infringing on his patents covering spinal deformity and repair devices. The patents in question were specialized hardware such as screws and rods, and the method surgeons use to implant them.
Dr. Mark A Barry
| www.drmbarry.com
Barry argued that Medtronic’s CD Horizon Legacy Spinal System infringes the patents called “System and Method for Aligning Vertebrae in the Ameliorating of Aberrant Spinal Column Deviation Conditions,” according to court documents.
The system includes a method for aligning vertebrae with a tool that allows a surgeon to rotate the spinal column as a whole, using pedicle screws, spinal rods and a “pedicle screw cluster de-rotation tool,” according to the documents.
Barry told the court he was the owner of U.S. patent numbers 7,670,358 and 7,776,072 and 8,361,121 and provided the documentation for these patents received from 2010 to 2013.
In pretrial arguments, Medtronic claimed prior public use of the invention and that Barry failed to mark the patents and thus isn’t entitled to pre-suit damages.
The case was led by Judge Ron Clark, who is participating the Pilot Patent Project, a program in the district courts to encourage expertise in patent cases among district judges.
Clark denied the public use claim, but barred Barry from pre-case damages for two of the three patents. Clark also ruled that Medtronic was infringing on one or more of his asserted patents by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing in/out of the U.S. without permission, and that Medtronic would not be able to escape the patent infringement lawsuit.
The case went to trial in November. After about a week in court, 10 jurors deliberated for nearly five hours before coming to a unanimous verdict, according to court documents.
The jury awarded $17.6 million for patent infringement in the U.S., and the rest for infringement outside of the U.S.
Dr. Barry specializes in conditions concerning the musculoskeletal system in infants, children, and adolescents, such as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. His specialized procedures cover children’s conditions including limb deficiency and deformity, trauma/fractures, sports injuries, tumor/oncology, and spinal deformities such as scoliosis.