House of Paine

pay dirt for big handed inventor

check out this
    Lurch like 
spinal surgeon/ gadget inventor 

grabs $ one billion  plus 
 pay off 
from Medtronics inc
  a notorious
   big time
    patent pirate 



mark one down 
"fer the little guy'

===========================================


la times;


"A Minneapolis medical device manufacturer 
 Medtronics agreed  Friday
to  pay
 a Los Angeles back surgeon 
and his company
 $1.35 billion 
to end a long-running dispute 
over rights to spinal implants
 and other instruments
 invented by the doctor"



" Medtronic Inc. will pay $800 million
 to acquire
 many of Dr. Gary Michelson's inventions 
and an additional $550 million
 to settle all legal claims".

.

"The accord concludes 
a four-year legal battle 
over technology 
that made Medtronic a world leader
 in spinal implants"


" The products 
at the center of the dispute 
were invented by Michelson 
to simplify basic spinal surgery
 in which a damaged disk
 is removed 
and the adjacent vertebrae
 are fused together
 The devices help patients recover
 more quickly 
and spend less time in the hospital"



"The physician said 
it cost him more than $60 million
 to fight Medtronic 
in an all-consuming battle 
that put his professional life on hold"





"Medtronic
will  get all of Michelson's spine-related inventions
 a portfolio 
of more than 100 U.S. patents
 more than 110 pending U.S. patents
 and 500 patents in foreign countries
 The company also will get rights 
to Michelson's future spinal inventions 
for the next 15 years"


"The dispute centered on rights 
to implants, surgical tools and techniques 
that Michelson had licensed 
in the mid-1990s 
to Sofamor Danek
 a company Medtronic acquired in 1999"

"In 2001, Medtronic sued Michelson
 charging that the surgeon 
was interfering with Medtronic's business 
by marketing some of the inventions 
to competitors
 It sought $225 million in damages
 plus an order 
that could have tripled that figure"

"Michelson countersued
 charging that Medtronic 
had violated its agreement 
with him 
by not developing and selling 
the inventions he had licensed 
to the company"

" Medtronic  failed to give him 
credit for his inventions 
and  deprived
 him of tens of millions 
of dollars in royalties".

"Last fall
 a federal jury 
in Memphis, Tenn
 ruled in favor of Michelson 
and ordered Medtronic 
to pay $510 million 
in compensatory and punitive damages"

" The jury also said
 Medtronic owed royalties
 on sales of products 
that used Michelson's inventions
 an amount that could have totaled 
$1 billion over two decades"

"Medtronic
  posted a $1.96-billion profit
 on sales of $9 billion last year"









"Medtronic, which has $4 billion in cash
 said the agreement would have no effect
 on its earnings"
----------------------------------------
doc  michelson malarky 


on the  first motive to invent ....

"my patients used to tremble 
at the thought of  my huge hands 
geetin into their spinal 
through some ghastly long incision 
so i figured out a way 
   to keep my hands  outside em "

on his career inspiration....
 
"my  grandmother
  suffered from a severe spine condition"

the name of his now wealthy company 
 
 "oh  Karlin Technology 
is named for my immigrant  grandfather"


plans...

"i'll  take 200 million 
        of my  settlement
and set up a  pure research foundation"


but right now
  after the battle...


" I'd like to  have 
   a  nice big midlife crisis 
and then go in a new direction," 


 
 his foundation ....


 "i hope it will prove 
      to be both
 personally  exciting 
and make a real difference 
             in the world "