A jury found in favor of Acantha in a patent dispute with DePuy Synthes, a Johnson & Johnson company, capping a longtime dispute over unlicensed spinal products.
Here are five things to know:
1. Acantha filed a patent for orthopedic technology used to join bone segments, U.S. Patent No. RE43,008('008), in 2001 and the patent was reissued in 2011.
2. The co-inventors of the technology, David Talaber and James Lloyd, MD, connected with DePuy Synthes about the patent in the mid-2000s; Dr. Lloyd even traveled to DePuy Synthes' headquarters in 2005 to explain the technology and how it could help the company with problems it was experiencing.
3. DePuy did not license the patent for the technology; however Acantha alleged DePuy used the technology in a series of spinal implants, including its Zero-P VA System and Vectra.
4. Acantha sued DePuy Synthes over the patent dispute, and a jury in Green Bay, Wis., found DePuy did willfully infringe on Acantha's patent.
5. The jury awarded Acantha $8.2 million in actual damages.