Medtronic wins $57 million for patent infringement

<p>Medtronic Inc. has won a $57 million damage award against a company that infringed on two of its patents, Medtronic said Thursday. </p><p>The patents cover some of the devices made at Medtronic’s vascular unit in Santa Rosa. </p><p>A jury in U.S. District Court in San Francisco found that AGA Medical Corp.’s manufacture, sale and use of its Amplatzer® Occluder and vascular plug product lines infringed on two U.S. patents owned by Medtronic. </p><p>The jury also ordered that AGA pay Medtronic a royalty of 11 percent on future U.S. sales of the products through 2018.</p><p>The technology allows doctors to locate and expand a medical device to repair holes in the heart, treat aortic aneurysms, place stents in blood vessels, or treat damaged or diseased heart valves. </p><p>Medtronic has about 840 employees in Santa Rosa, where it develops stents and stent graft systems for treating artery disease and aneurysms.</p><p>The corporate headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minn.</p>