Court Grants Covidien Preliminary Injunction Against Ethicon's Harmonic ACE+7

(RTTNews) - Covidien plc (COV) announced Friday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has granted a preliminary injunction against Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) company.

The injunction results from a lawsuit filed by Covidien in June 2014 that alleged Ethicon's latest ultrasonic surgical product, the Harmonic ACE+7, infringes three Covidien patents.

The injunction prevents Ethicon from manufacturing, marketing and selling the Harmonic ACE+7.

The June 2014 lawsuit contends that U.S. Patents 6,063,050; 6,468,286; and 6,682,544 are infringed by Ethicon's Harmonic ACE+7 Shears. Ethicon's Harmonic devices were found to infringe the same patents in a prior suit in the same court that resulted in a damages award against Ethicon of more than $175 million, a finding that is currently under appeal.