Medtronic (Minneapolis) and Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) were no strangers to patent lawsuits. Edwards specializes in the production of artificial heart valves and new hemodynamic monitoring technologies, while Medtronic specializes in the production of medical devices. In the past, the two companies have had trouble in patent infringement lawsuits over annuloplasty and endovascular grafting procedures (1,2). However, another patent infringement lawsuit between Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences has currently occurred and been reported. Edwards said it has pre-existing intellectual property rights to the new transcatheter aortic valve technology. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR is the latest technology used primarily to treat aortic stenosis, a condition in which one of the heart's main valves, the aortic valve, becomes narrow and stiff, usually due to aging ( 3). Because many patients who need aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis are too sick to undergo valve replacement surgery, they are unable to get the treatment they need. With the transcatheter aortic valve this problem is circumvented because this valve can be implanted in the heart by accessing the patient's heart through an artery in the groin. The valve can be inserted through a wire that can be pushed up to the heart, and the old valve is simply pushed to the side when the new valve is implanted. This technology has been in use in the United States with the Edwards Sapiens valve since 2011 and has saved the lives of many patients with aortic stenosis (4). Medtronic's CoreValve uses similar technology and has won patent battles in Europe and has been used internationally. However, in the United States, Medtronic has not been… center of paper… Lifesciences Andersen Patent. 2010:2014.(7) Room B. Patents and patent policy. 2007.(8) Morse H. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRIES: ANTITRUST REGULATION.(9) Allison JR, Lemley MA, Moore KA, Trunkey RD. Precious patents. Geo.Lj 2003;92:435.(10) Gold R. Patents hinder medical care and innovation. 2010.(11) Alten B. Left to their own devices: Congress limits patents on medical procedures. 1998;8(3).(12) Court Report: Medtronic Pays Edwards $83.6 Million Patent Lawsuit.(13) Edwards Higher, Medtronic Lower After Court Strikes Corevalve. 2014; Available at: http://www.veooz.com/news/DH4sahZ.html, 2014.(14) Chieffo A. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation with Edwards Sapien and Medtronic Corevalve Revalving System Devices: A Multicenter Collaborative Study: The Pragmatic Initiative Plus. 2013;61(8).