The Federal Circuit on Monday said a lower court “committed clear error” in awarding sanctions against Medtronic and its lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery for their conduct during a patent infringement case dating back to 1999.

“Because we have concluded that Medtronic did not improperly prolong the proceedings by pursuing its claims through trial, and because we disagree with most of the district court's criticisms of Medtronic's litigation tactics, we reverse the trial court's exceptional case finding and vacate the attorney fee award,” Judge William Bryson wrote for the Federal Circuit panel.

In February 2008, U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch of the District of Colorado vacated a $51 million verdict against BrainLab Inc., which Medtronic claimed was infringing a patent it held on surgical guidance technology.

Then he went a step further, ordering Medtronic's lawyers to pay BrainLab's attorney fees and costs totaling $4.3 million for “cavalier and abusive” misconduct in a trial he deemed frivolous and without merit.

The Federal Circuit's reversal of that order lets McDermott Will & Emery and Medtronic off the hook.

“While we respect the District Court, we stand behind our trial work and are proud of the fact that our work was vindicated after such close study by a Federal Circuit panel,” said Terrence P. McMahon, a McDermott partner working on the Medtronic case, in a statement.