District Court Grants Stay in NuVasive Litigation Against Alphatec

A California federal court has granted a stay in the NuVasive, Inc. [NUVA] patent litigation against Alphatec Holdings, Inc. [ATEC] until the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reevaluates the validity of some of NuVasive’s patents.

NuVasive originally filed suit against ATEC in February 2018, alleging that ATEC’s lateral surgery procedure infringed upon some of NuVasive’s patents. The district court dismissed NuVasive’s claims that ATEC infringed design patents covering the implants and sequential dilators used in lateral surgery. The court also denied NUVA’s request for a preliminary injunction, finding that NuVasive had failed to meet its burden to show that it would be likely to succeed on the merits of its case.

On February 6, 2019, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California ordered a stay of patent litigation proceedings until the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers ATEC’s recent challenge to certain NuVasive patents that cover its CoRoent lateral implants. The stay was agreed to by both parties and effectively halts all active litigation until the USPTO reaches its decision.

Pat Miles, ATEC’s chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are extremely pleased with the many legal successes that we have seen to date in this lawsuit, including the Court’s entry of the stay. I am confident that, upon full review, the Patent Office will invalidate the challenged NuVasive implant patents.”

Miles continued, “While we welcome the positive legal developments, we are not looking to distinguish ATEC in the courtroom. Instead, we are on a mission to differentiate ATEC in the operating room, leveraging our organic innovation machine to improve surgical outcomes. With twelve new product releases slated for 2019, including the highly anticipated launch of our revolutionary nerve monitoring platform, we are increasingly well-positioned to be the new leader of innovation in spine.”