Fish & Richardson Secures Denial of IPR Petitions on Behalf of Moskowitz Family LLC in Spinal Surgery Patent Dispute

Fish & Richardson obtained denial of eight petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed by Globus Medical Inc. that challenged several spinal surgery patents of Fish client Moskowitz Family LLC, a Maryland neurosurgery practice. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) found that Globus, a publicly-traded medical device company, failed to meet its burden and was not likely to prove any of the challenged claims of Moskowitz's U.S. Patent Nos. 8,353,913, 9,889,022, 10,028,740, 10,251,643, 10,307,268, and 10,478,319 unpatentable. The challenged patents relate to systems for minimally invasive spinal surgery.

The PTAB's categorical denial of all of Globus's IPR petitions has enabled Moskowitz's patent infringement lawsuit against the medical device company to proceed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Moskowitz first filed suit against Globus for infringing its patents in 2019. In response to the infringement lawsuit, Globus filed eight petitions for IPR, alleging that various claims in the six of the eight asserted patents are invalid. The PTAB began denying Globus's challenges in late December and issued a denial of the eighth and final pending petition for IPR of the '740 patent on February 5, 2021.

"Our post-grant team is very proud to have achieved this unequivocal victory for Moskowitz Family LLC, which will enable Dr. Moskowitz to move forward with additional confidence in his patents as we proceed with the case against Globus in district court," said Fish principal Timothy Riffe. "The PTAB's decision also signals to the industry at-large that Dr. Moskowitz's patent portfolio represents a significant step forward in surgical devices used for spinal surgery."

The Fish team included principals Timothy Riffe, Joseph Colaianni, Kenneth Darby, Craig Deutsch, Hyun Jin In, Brian Livedalen, Stuart Nelson, and Jason Zucchi, and associates Michael Ballanco, Laura Whitworth, and Jack Wilson.