Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today provided the following statement:

As part of a patent opposition proceeding, the European Patent Office (EPO) today issued a preliminary opinion on the validity of Edwards’ EP2055266 Spenser patent, which was the basis for the Aug. 26, 2013, injunction prohibiting further sales of CoreValve® System in Germany.

The preliminary opinion says the patent claims are not valid because of an invalid priority claim and because claims are impermissibly broader than the disclosure of the application. Additionally, the EPO does not think that the claims are novel. The preliminary opinion was posted earlier today on the EPO website.

The decision will be finalized after oral proceedings, now scheduled for March 6 and 7, 2014, in The Hague. The decision is preliminary and non-binding. We are encouraged by this progress in Europe.