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Date Announced: 31 Jan 2011
Superior Court ruling follows jury verdict that found Volcano Corporation and Axsun Technologies misappropriated LightLab trade secrets.
ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ - News), a global medical device company, today announced that the Superior Court of Massachusetts has issued rulings in outstanding litigation between LightLab Imaging Inc. (acquired last year by St. Jude Medical), Volcano Corporation and its subsidiary Axsun Technologies, Inc.
The rulings find that Volcano Corporation and Axsun Technologies violated a Massachusetts law against engaging in unfair competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices, through a pattern of inappropriate conduct directed at key technology used in the company’s Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) product platform.
The statutory violations arose in connection with Volcano’s acquisition of Axsun Technologies, a key LightLab supplier, in 2008. The Court also found that these violations were knowing and willful and entitle LightLab to recover attorneys’ fees.
In its decision, the Court found that Volcano viewed the Axsun acquisition as a means of “impeding the growth of a major competitor,” that there was a “scheme orchestrated by Volcano and implemented with Axsun’s assistance” to seek to supply LightLab with a less effective laser, and that this would “adversely affect the marketability” of LightLab’s imaging system.
The Court’s decision today adopts findings from a jury verdict in February 2010 in the same suit, in which the jury found that:
• Axsun breached its contract with LightLab;
• Axsun had disclosed LightLab trade secrets to Volcano;
• Axsun and Volcano had misappropriated LightLab’s trade secrets;
• Volcano intentionally interfered with LightLab’s contract with Axsun.
"St. Jude Medical and its LightLab subsidiary are pleased with the Court’s recent ruling,” said Frank Callaghan, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiovascular Division. “It is gratifying to have both the jury and the Court rule in LightLab’s favor on these important issues. We value the innovations we bring to the marketplace, and this case shows again that St. Jude Medical and its subsidiaries will protect our intellectual property and contract rights so that we can continue to bring leading edge products to the health care professionals we serve worldwide.”
Source: St Jude Medical/LightLab Imaging
E-mail: kstoltenberg@sjm.com
Web Site: www.sjm.com
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