Spectranetics to appeal verdict

Spectranetics Corp. said last week it will appeal a $500,000 federal-court jury verdict in a patent dispute with a New York surgeon.
Dr. Peter Rentrop won the verdict in January that a catheter made by the Colorado Springs-based company infringed on his patent. The verdict, along with $690,000 in legal fees and royalties, triggered the company’s first annual loss in four years.
A judge denied an $150,000 jury award for Rentrop’s legal fees, but hasn’t ruled on Rentrop’s motions that the case be declared “exceptional” and he be awarded legal fees and interest both before and after the verdict.
Spectranetics told stockholders in November that it provided Rentrop with confidential and proprietary information about its laser catheter technology and he used the information to later file patent applications on that technology.