Tyco Healthcare Group, LP of Mansfield, MA has filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Connecticut, against Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. of Cincinnati, OH. The complaint claims that Ethicon's Harmonic devices violated some of Tyco's patents for ultrasonic curved blades and an ultrasonic dissection and coagulation system--medical instruments that employ ultrasonic energy to cut and coagulate vessels in surgery. Ethicon's parent company is Johnson & Johnson. Tyco's parent company is Covidien.

Tyco had sued Ethicon previously in the same district court in 2004 regarding the patent infringement. After a bench trial commenced in 2007, the case was suspended to determine a motion to dismiss based Tyco's ownership of the patents in question. The suit was dismissed without prejudice and a circuit court upheld the dismissal. A dismissal with prejudice bars a subsequent action between the same parties on the same claim. Because in this case the dismissal was without prejudice, the appellate decision allowed Tyco to bring the new suit. The Federal Circuit appellate decision held that Tyco Healthcare may become able to show that it owned the asserted patents, or, alternatively, Tyco Healthcare may be able to obtain ownership of the patents. Since the ownership issue was not an issue to be litigated during trial, the Appellate Court said no undue prejudice to Ethicon would arise from the dismissal without prejudice.

The new suit asks the court to enjoin Ethicon from continuing to make and sell the Harmonic devices named in the lawsuit, and for damages for these infringements. "We will vigorously protect our innovations with our intellectual property," said Ralph Corradi, Vice President, Endomechanical Franchise, Covidien, in a press release.

The Covidien press release: http://investor.covidien.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=207592&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1375316&highlight=

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