Seven rivals challenging the patent on AstraZeneca's Crestor cholesterol drug claim AZ misled the PTO. A Delaware magistrate recommended that the claims proceed to trial.

Paul Weiss represented Edwards; Medtronic had Keker & Van Nest.

In a ruling that should keep the blood pressure of AZ and its investors under control, Delaware judge Joseph Farnan Jr.--in one of his last opinions before he leaves the bench in July--found that AZ's patent on the blockbuster cholesterol drug is valid.

The jury was out for more than three weeks, but a guy who ran 105 marathons in a single year certainly had the stamina to wait it out--especially since his client won in the end.

Pfizer predecessor Wyeth sued two generic companies that introduced competing versions of its reflux drug Protonix for infringement, and sued a third when it filed an application to produce the drug. The generics claimed Pfizer's patent was invalid, but a Newark federal jury upheld it.

"Try, try again" was the motto for Covidien's U.S. Surgical unit. After twice losing patent infringement trials to Applied Medical, U.S. Surgical finally won a defense verdict last April. The Federal Circuit sealed the win last week.

"Try, try again" was the motto for Covidien, whose U.S. Surgical Unit lost two patent infringement suits to Applied Science before finally winning a defense verdict last April. The Federal Circuit sealed the victory last week.