Boston Scientific is suing Johnson and Johnson (J&J), alleging a heart procedure tool developed by its subsidiary, Atraverse Medical, infringed on one of its patents.
Boston filed a lawsuit with the District Court of Delaware on 11 July. Made public on 8 October, the complaint alleges that Atraverse’s Hotwire, a guidewire device that uses radiofrequency (RF) energy to access the left side of the heart during transseptal catheterisation procedures, knowingly infringed on Patent ‘955 as held by Boston.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The court filing alleges that Atraverse encouraged healthcare professionals to use its Hotwire device in ways that infringed at least two claims of Boston Scientific’s patent. According to Boston, Atraverse has encouraged physicians to use Hotwire for transseptal procedures, and in doing so, knew that the acts it induced “constitute patent infringement”.
Boston’s complaint goes on to state that it notified Atraverse’s counsel in September 2026 that its ongoing actions constituted infringement of Patent ‘955. Therefore, the company concluded that Atraverse “could not reasonably or subjectively believe” that its actions did not constitute infringement of Boston’s patent.
To reconcile the alleged infringements, Boston is requesting a judgment in favour of its assertions that Atraverse infringed on Patent ‘955 “both directly and indirectly”, an injunction barring the J&J subsidiary from continuing the alleged infringement, and damages of an unspecified amount.
Medical Device Network has reached out to J&J for comment.
Atraverse secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for the Hotwire access system in December 2025. J&J then acquired the company in April 2026, with financial details not disclosed.
Access to the left atrium is viewed as critical in performing atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. However, there is no venous pathway into the left atrium. Therefore, companies, including another J&J subsidiary, Biosense Webster, market products such as transseptal needles or steerable sheaths to puncture or bypass the interatrial septum and perform procedures.
The electrophysiology catheter ablation market is an increasingly valuable and competitive market. GlobalData analysis reveals that the global electrophysiology ablation catheter market is growing at a CAGR of 11.1% and is projected to reach a valuation of around $17.6bn in 2035, up from $6.1bn in 2025.
According to a GlobalData market model, J&J’s Biosense Webster held a 43.1% share of the US electrophysiology ablation catheter market in 2025, ahead of Boston Scientific and Medtronic in second and third place, with market shares of 25.6% and 24.6%, respectively.
