Judge Increases Tyco Award to Applied Medical

A federal judge in Santa Ana increased the amount that a Tyco International Ltd. unit must pay Applied Medical Resources Corp. 25% to $54.5 million for infringing a patent for devices used in minimally invasive surgery.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney increased a jury’s July award against Tyco’s U.S. Surgical unit by $11 million, a smaller boost than Applied Medical had sought. The jury determined that Tyco willfully infringed Applied Medical’s patent, a finding that gave Carney the discretion to award as much as three times the jury’s $43.5-million verdict.

The dispute centers around the $300-million-a-year market for surgical devices called trocars, which are small sealed tubes put into the body during laparoscopic surgery to create working space for doctors. Tyco, the second-biggest maker of disposable medical products, said the trial involved a product it no longer sold, called Versaport.

“Ultimately, while” U.S. Surgical “did engage in willful infringement, its level of egregious conduct was not reprehensible or blatant, but rather reflected a reckless disregard of Applied’s patent rights,” Carney wrote in his decision dated last week.

Tyco spokeswoman Gwen Fisher said the company was “considering its options,” including an appeal.

Applied Medical first sued U.S. Surgical in 1996 in Virginia, winning a jury award of about $15 million. U.S. Surgical has since redesigned its trocars twice, prompting two more suits by Applied Medical. The trocar U.S. Surgical currently sells, called Versaport Plus, is not affected by the case, Fisher said.

Closely held Applied Medical, based in Rancho Santa Margarita, first filed the suit in 1999, before Tyco bought U.S. Surgical.

Tyco shares fell 43 cents to $30.82 on the New York Stock Exchange after the news was released.