According to a recent Docket Report issue, on March 30, 2010, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas awarded Smith and Nephew, Inc. $5,185,667 after a jury found Arthrex, Inc. infringed its patent. The award includes $4,713,000 in damages and $472,667 in pre-judgment interest.

Jury selection for the patent infringement lawsuit began on February 1, 2010, and a verdict was reached 11 days later. The jury found Arthrex infringed claim 8 of the patent-at-issue, US Patent No. 5,645,588 entitled “Graft attachment device.”

In determining the pre-judgment interest, the Court calculated the interest rate and compounded it on a yearly basis from the date of the first infringement, October 2006, to March 30, 2010.

The Court stated it will defer on the issue of a permanent injunction until the post-judgment motions are complete.

SOURCE:

Smith and Nephew, Inc. v. Arthrex, Inc., No. 2:07-cv-33f-TJW-CE (E. D. Texas. March 30, 2010) (Final Judgment).