Cordis Corp. Penalized in the Patent Infringement Dispute

On September 05, 2006 U.S. Federal Judge Tim Leonard penalized Cordis Corp. (A division of Johnson & Johnson) in a patent infringement dispute concerning three U.S. patents issued to Dr. Jan K. Voda. The judge awarded $8.1 million in damages and prejudgment interest and $ 2.2 million in attorney fees to Dr. Voda. Earlier in October 2003, Dr. Voda brought patent infringement suit against Cordis in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma for infringement of three U.S. patents relating to guiding catheters for performing angioplasty on the left coronary artery. In response, Cordis denied that the sale of its catheters infringed Dr. Voda’s patents and counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment of patent invalidity and non-infringement. Later in May 2006, the jury found that Cordis Corp. willfully infringed Dr. Voda’s patents and rejected Cordis motion for declaratory judgment and also awarded Dr. Voda a 7.5 percent royalty.