High court halts Boston Scientific

WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Boston Scientific Corp., leaving intact a jury finding that led to a $703 million award against the company for infringing a Johnson & Johnson patent for coronary stents.

The rebuff comes less than a week after a trial judge said Johnson & Johnson's Cordis subsidiary was entitled to $1.2 billion, including interest, from Natick-based Boston Scientific and Medtronic Inc. in the 11-year-old case. Boston Scientific has said it will file a new appeal challenging the award itself.

At the Supreme Court, Boston Scientific sought to overturn a jury's conclusion that the company infringed a Cordis patent. In January a federal appeals court in Washington upheld that verdict and a similar one against Medtronic.

Cordis opted not to file a response at the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal without comment yesterday. Medtronic hasn't appealed its part of the case to the high court.

Boston Scientific spokesman Paul Donovan declined to comment on the court's action.