Biomet's Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Medtronic Continues After Appellate Court Ruling.

WARSAW, Ind. -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today issued an opinion in Biomet, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMET) subsidiary Cross Medical Products, Inc.'s patent infringement lawsuit against Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. and Medtronic Sofamor Danek USA, Inc. The suit alleges that Medtronic's MAS, Vertex, M8, M10, Sextant, Legacy 4.5, and Legacy 5.5 polyaxial screws, which are used in spinal surgery, infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,474,555 which is owned by Cross Medical Products, a Biomet company. Today's appellate court decision is a result of Medtronic's appeal of a District Court's entry of a permanent injunction against the original designs of Medtronic's polyaxial screws. The District Court had entered the permanent injunction after finding that Cross Medical's '555 patent is valid and infringed by Medtronic's polyaxial screws.

The appellate court ruled in Biomet's favor on many of the issues on appeal, and ruled that the District Court properly granted Biomet summary judgment as to two of Medtronic's invalidity defenses. Importantly, the appellate court found that Medtronic should not have been granted summary judgment on any of its noninfringement or invalidity arguments, affirming the District Court's denial of Medtronic's summary judgment motions. Because of several factual issues that remain, the appellate court reversed the injunction on Medtronic's devices, and remanded the case back to the District Court for further proceedings. A trial to determine those factual issues, as well as Biomet's request for damages, likely will take place next year.

Biomet also notes that the District Court has separately ruled that certain of Medtronic's transverse connectors used in spinal surgery infringe a separate patent owned by Cross. That ruling was not impacted by the appellate court's decision today.

Dane A. Miller, Ph.D., Biomet's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased with the appellate court's rulings in our favor on many of Medtronic's defensive arguments. We look forward to a trial on the remaining factual issues and are confident that we will ultimately prevail in our quest to stop Medtronic from infringing our valuable intellectual property rights."

Biomet, Inc. and its subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products used primarily by musculoskeletal medical specialists in both surgical and non-surgical therapy. The Company's product portfolio encompasses reconstructive products, including orthopedic joint replacement devices, bone cements and accessories, and dental reconstructive implants; fixation products, including electrical bone growth stimulators, internal and external orthopedic fixation devices, craniomaxillofacial implants and bone substitute materials; spinal products, including spinal stimulation devices, spinal hardware and orthobiologics; and other products, such as arthroscopy products and softgoods and bracing products. Headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Biomet and its subsidiaries currently distribute products in more than 100 countries.

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