(Boston, June 6, 2005) – Finishing the job for which it was hired in January, Ropes & Gray settled long-standing patent litigation against Medtronic, a Minnesota-based medical-device company, by negotiating a $1.35 billion buyout of the defendant, a doctor.

In the May 17 settlement, Medtronic acquired more than 200 issued and pending U.S. patents and 500 foreign counterparts from Dr. Gary Michelson, a prolific California inventor of spinal surgery devices. In addition, Medtronic will have the rights to spinal patents Dr. Michelson obtains in the next 15 years. The settlement formally ends litigation between Medtronic and Dr. Michelson that has been ongoing for several years.

Steven A. Wilcox, a Boston partner who led the Ropes & Gray team, cited his team’s added capabilities in the wake of the recent merger of Ropes & Gray and Fish & Neave. With the merger, Ropes & Gray’s traditional strength in mergers and acquisitions was significantly enhanced by Fish & Neave’s strong intellectual property expertise, particularly the firm’s years of experience in resolving complex patent litigation.

Wilcox attributed the successful consummation of this transaction to the firm’s ability to integrate its patent prosecution, litigation and licensing expertise with its mergers and acquisitions experience, to structure and negotiate creative solutions.

In addition to Mr. Wilcox, the negotiating team included Robert C. Morgan, Jane A. Massaro and Thomas P. Burke from the Fish & Neave IP Group of Ropes & Gray. Aiding the effort from the firm’s Boston office were David McIntosh, Anita Varma, Edward J. Kelly and Eric M. Elfman. The Ropes & Gray team worked in close coordination with Medtronic’s in-house team of corporate and patent lawyers to achieve the desired outcome.

---

©1996-2012 Ropes & Gray LLP. All rights reserved.