EPO and UPC align in decision to uphold Edwards Lifesciences’ heart valve patent

The EPO’s Opposition Division has upheld Edwards Lifesciences’ EP 4 151 181 in amended form, following a recent decision by the UPC. In a preliminary opinion, the EPO had previously acknowledged the novelty of claim 1.

Just days before the EPO oral proceedings, the UPC central division in Paris had maintained EP 181 in amended form. It ruled that Meril’s products infringe several claims of the amended patent. The UPC judges had considered the EPO’s preliminary opinion in their deliberations.

The UPC judges banned Meril from selling its infringing Octacor THV and Octapro THV devices in UPC member states where the patent is in force. However, they exempted prosthetic heart valves in XL size exceeding 30mm in diameter and related delivery apparatus due to public health interests (case IDs: UPC_CFI_189-2024 and UPC_CFI_434-2024).

EP 181 is one of several patents-in-suit that the US medical devices company is defending against Meril Life Science. The dispute spans different national jurisdictions including Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, as well as the UPC, with parallel oppositions at the EPO.

Trusted advisors

Bernhard Thum and Jonas Weickert from German patent attorney firm Thum & Partner once again represented patent holder Edwards in the proceedings before the Opposition Division. They took over the client’s representation from Eisenführ Speiser, who had originally filed the patent. They are also heavily involved in the entire case at the UPC and argued part of the claim construction for the infringement and recent validity case in Paris.

UK patent attorneys Jonathan Stafford and Gregory Carty-Hornsby from Marks & Clerk represented opponent Meril. The team is also involved in the UPC proceedings in Paris and Munich, where they provided technical advice.