Globus Medical to Pay $16 Million in Patent Lawsuit

In July 2011, Synthes USA LLC accused spinal implant maker Globus Medical Inc. of infringing three intervertebral implant patents, asking the court to force the defendant to destroy its allegedly infringing products. Two years later, on June 17, the jury in the U.S. Court in Delaware has found that prior versions of three products previously sold by Globus Medical did infringe on Synthes’ patents and awarded monetary damages in the amount of $16 million. There was no finding of willful infringement in this lawsuit.

According to company officials, Globus Medical does not expect the verdict to impact its ability to conduct its business or to have any impact on its future revenues. The three products in question are no longer sold by Globus Medical, so the jury’s decision will not affect the company’s sales, neither will it require any royalty payments to Synthes based on current or future sales.

Globus Medical intends to seek to overturn the verdict in post-trial motions with the District Court and, if necessary, through the appeals process.

This is not the first lawsuit Globus Medical has faced from Synthes. In 2007, Globus paid $13.5 million to settle a series of patent infringement allegations brought by the maker of orthopedic and neurologic products.

Globus Medical makes spinal implants and is based in Audubon, Pa. Since the original lawsuit was filed, Synthes was acquired by Johnson & Johnson, and is now called DePuy Synthes Products LLC.