DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 24, 2014-- Covidien (NYSE: COV) today announced that it filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut against Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. The lawsuit alleges that Ethicon’s latest ultrasonic surgical product, the Harmonic ACE®+7, infringes three Covidien patents. The same federal court found that these patents were valid and had been infringed in an earlier lawsuit relating to other Ethicon ultrasonic surgical products.

“The federal court in Connecticut has previously recognized the value of Covidien’s intellectual property in this area and, with this new lawsuit, we will continue to vigorously protect both our innovations and intellectual property,” said Lawrence Weiss, vice president and general counsel, Surgical Solutions, Covidien.

The 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. The new suit asks the court to enjoin Ethicon from continuing to make and sell the Harmonic ACE®+7 device and to grant damages for the patent infringement.

ABOUT COVIDIEN

Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien develops, manufactures and sells a diverse range of industry-leading medical device and supply products. With 2013 revenue of $10.2 billion, Covidien has more than 38,000 employees worldwide in more than 70 countries, and its products are sold in over 150 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business.

Source: Covidien

Contacts
Covidien
Marguerite Copel, 203-821-4720
Vice President, Communications
Surgical Solutions
marguerite.copel@covidien.com
or
John Jordan, 508-452-4891
Director, External Communications
Surgical Solutions
john.jordan@covidien.com
or
Coleman Lannum, CFA, 508-452-4343
Vice President
Investor Relations
cole.lannum@covidien.com
or
Todd Carpenter, 508-452-4363
Director
Investor Relations
todd.carpenter@covidien.com