J&J Must Pay $40 Million to Boston Scientific, Judge Says

A Johnson & Johnson unit owes Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) more than $40 million in damages for intentionally infringing a patent for coronary stents, a federal judge ruled.

Boston Scientific won about $20 million from Cordis Corp. (1320Q) in a May 2011 jury trial in Wilmington, Delaware. U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson said in an opinion March 13 that Boston Scientific deserved twice that much. Cordis filed an appeal of the ruling April 10 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, according to court records.

“Cordis was aware of and investigated” the patent, Robinson wrote in her decision. “Doubling the jury’s award” is “reasonable under the circumstances.”

Boston Scientific, based in Natick, Massachusetts, sued Cordis in Minnesota in 2009. The case was transferred to Delaware the following year.

Sandy Pound, a Cordis spokeswoman, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment on the ruling. Steven Campanini, a spokesman for Boston Scientific, said the company couldn’t immediately comment.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, rose 58 cents to $64.12 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 1:50 p.m.

The case is Boston Scientific Corp. v. Cordis Corp., 10CV315, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

To see the patent, click: 5,922,021.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware at pmilford@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net