Hologic announces U.S. Court of Appeals affirmation of 2021 ruling against Minerva Surgical

Hologic (HOLX) announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed a 2021 district court ruling that invalidated a Minerva (UTRS) patent asserted against Hologic. The appellate court ruled that Minerva’s patent is invalid because it waited more than a year to file a patent application after showing a prototype of the invention at a trade show. In 2017, Minerva alleged that Hologic’s NovaSure Advanced endometrial ablation system infringed a Minerva patent. In 2021, the district court issued a judgment in Hologic’s favor two weeks before trial, holding that Minerva’s patent is invalid. Today’s affirmation by the U.S. Court of Appeals follows a prior decision against Minerva. In a separate matter between Hologic and Minerva, a Delaware district court found Minerva liable for infringing a Hologic patent. The U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Minerva’s arguments on appeal and as a result, Minerva had to pay Hologic more than $7.4M.