Millennium Health to Pay $8.6 Million for Infringing on Ameritox-licensed Patent
Federal Jury Unanimously Finds that Millennium Health (formerly Millennium Laboratories) Infringed Underlying Patent of Ameritox's Rx Guardian CD®
Apr 22, 2015, 01:16 ET
BALTIMORE, April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A federal jury has unanimously found Millennium Health (formerly Millennium Laboratories) to have infringed U.S. Patent No. 7,585,680 (the "'680 Patent"). The jury awarded Ameritox $8.6 million in damages.
The '680 Patent is owned by the Marshfield Clinic, a non-profit healthcare system of hospitals and community care centers in Wisconsin, and exclusively licensed to Ameritox. The jury's decision upheld the validity of the patent and, along with an earlier court decision, resulted in Millennium's removal of the infringing features of the RADAR® Report.
Millennium began infringing on the patent by unveiling its RADAR Report with graphed results three weeks after Ameritox launched its Rx Guardian CD® medication monitoring program in May 2011. Millennium continued infringing on the patent by using its RADAR Report with graphed results into 2015.
Ameritox's Rx Guardian CD service compares a patient's normalized urine drug monitoring results to a database of patients clinically assessed as adherent. Ameritox's INSIGHT report displays those results graphically on a bell curve.
Millennium's RADAR Report compares a patient's normalized urine drug monitoring results to a database of patients prescribed the same medication – though those patients have not been clinically assessed as adherent. Millennium's RADAR report displayed those results graphically on a bell curve.
The Chief Judge of the Western District of Wisconsin, William M. Conley, addressed this difference in a pre-trial Summary Judgment Order: "While … shortcomings in the data used in Millennium's RADAR Report may well make for an inferior product, they do not render the product non-infringing."
The '680 patent covers Ameritox's Rx Guardian CD service and reports. The Rx Guardian CD display is designed to improve treatment outcomes by giving clinicians more insight into whether a patient may be taking prescribed medications correctly.
"Rx Guardian CD is a highly differentiated offering that brings unique value and insights to our customers," said Ameritox CEO Scott Walton. "We are proud that we are the scientific leader in the industry and pleased that the court decision has served to validate that fact."
After the '680 Patent was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Millennium twice sought reexamination of it in an effort to have it invalidated. On both occasions, the Patent Office affirmed its previous decision on patentability.
This is the second jury within a year that has ruled in favor of Ameritox against Millennium. In June 2014, a judge and jury in the Middle District Court of Florida, found Millennium in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark laws for offering doctors free Point-of-Care Testing cups, which was found to constitute illegal inducements for business. In that case, Ameritox was awarded more than $11 million in damages.
About Ameritox
Ameritox helped pioneer the prescription drug monitoring necessary to address the national epidemic of prescription drug misuse, abuse, and diversion. As a trusted leader in Pain Medication Monitoring SolutionsSM, Ameritox provides medical and business professionals with health care solutions that can help improve patient care and prevent tragedy. Ameritox, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., has 800 employees nationwide and laboratory facilities in Greensboro, N.C.
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SOURCE Ameritox