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Varian's seven year patent dispute comes to an end

by Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | April 16, 2014
Varian Medical Systems announced last week that it has reached a settlement with the University of Pittsburgh after seven years of patent litigation. It has been decided that Varian will pay a lump sum of about $35 million to fully settle the matter.

Varian's Real-Time Position Management technology is used during radiation therapy, and adjusts the position of the machine based on the patient's breathing.

Since the University of Pittsburgh has a patent for that technology, they started a patient infringement lawsuit against Varian in 2007. In 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled against Varian and ordered that they pay $102 million in damages, enhanced damages, interest and fees, as well as ongoing royalty payments.

Varian challenged the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and last week the court published its opinion on the case. It reversed the previous ruling that the patent infringement was willful and remanded the case in order to recalculate the damage payment, according to court documents.

The appeals court stated that "the trial court shall reconsider the propriety of its award of enhanced damages and its attorneys' fee award." However, it will not voice its opinion about what the appropriate award should be.

During the second quarter of fiscal year 2014, Varian and the University of Pittsburgh made a settlement agreement that relied on the appeals court's ruling, according to a written statement from Varian. The settlement declared that Varian will not owe any ongoing royalty payments related to the sale of products that include the patent at issue.

After seven years, the University is happy to finally receive their damage award.

"The University of Pittsburgh is pleased with the opinion issued from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which confirms Varian's infringement of the University's patent rights," Ken Service, vice chancellor for communications at the university, wrote to DOTmed News in an email. "The University looks forward to receiving a final damage award in a case which has been in litigation for seven years."

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