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6 gp 1 <br /> gpq� w p 4 k; n � -1, the stouK galneu u <br /> 17JdUf7� t . + d � �.��. ^,, <br /> 3.72 cent, and closed a <br /> 0.66 SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS <br /> 1.71 the first time since <br /> 0.03 <br /> o.os cord released no n <br /> 7TH <br /> o.oa E tions are growing fl <br /> 0.17 MAY 1996 SECTION earnings. Tricord hl <br /> ,1.60 SDAY <br /> 1.021 6 PACES high of$6.75 before <br /> )045 Market wrap-up, P <br /> 0.14 <br /> MUTUAL FUNDS <br /> LITIGATION <br /> V SUIT <br /> • St. Jude es V CONTINUED FROM IE <br /> issue with CR ho million a year, depending on <br /> how many pacemakers Pacesetter <br /> sells, according to Kruger. <br /> patents in t� similar agreement with Gui- <br /> dant <br /> would allow St. Jude to buy <br /> Ventritex, giving it the opportuni- <br /> ty to manufacture and sell both <br /> JUDITH YATES BORGER STAFF WRITER types of technology. <br /> /� St. Jude is trying to put itself <br /> nST M division of St. Jude Medical Friday in a bargaining position," Scherer <br /> '— sued cross-town rival Cardiac Pacemak- speculated. <br /> ers Inc., charging it with three patent Guidant plans defend its tech- <br /> violations involving devices that control nology, according g to Carol Lin- <br /> violations spokeswoman for CPI. <br /> y heart beats. <br /> Such lawsuits are fairly common in named in the lawsuit do not in- <br /> believe that the products <br /> m the highly litigious medical device Indus- <br /> try, but this one has the earmarkings of fringe the patents listed in their <br /> a prelude to a St. Jude bid to buy com- lawsuit,"position l said. "We'll de- <br /> petitor Ventritex Inc., of Sunnyvale, fend our position vigorouslyt, <br /> Calif., analysts speculated Monday. Jay Graf, CPI president, <br /> St. Jude is positioning itself to negoti- St. Jude to comment on any motive <br /> ve <br /> ft- ate a cross-licensing agreement with St. might have regarding <br /> Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp., CPI's Ventritex. <br /> parent company, according to Kurt Representatives from St. Jude <br /> also declined to discuss Ventritex. <br /> Kruger, who follows Guidant and St. <br /> to Jude for Montgomery Securities in San "This is strictly between <br /> Francisco. Such an agreement would Jude and Guidant," said Peter <br /> clear the way for St. Jude to buy Ventri- G t spokesman for St. Jude. <br /> A <br /> tex, one of three makers of implantable At the close of the stock market <br /> defibrillators. Guidant's shares were down <br /> $1.371/2 <br /> St. Jude wants a defribrillator device a share to $55; St. Jude <br /> n to complement its pacemaker technolo- was s u up 62111 cents at $37.25 and <br /> ,h gy. Implantable defibrillators control Ventritex was up $1.25 a share to <br /> hearts that beat too fast, while pacemak- <br /> ers control hearts that beat too slowly. <br /> "There are only three defibrillator <br /> players: Guidant, Medtronic and Ventri- <br /> tex, in that order," said Rachael Scherer, <br /> an analyst with Dain Bosworth. " The <br /> barriers to entry are very high, so St. <br /> Jude is looking at a number of options. <br /> The one with the nearest term revenue <br /> would be to buy Ventritex." <br /> But to do that now would leave St. <br /> Jude open to lawsuits. A cross-licensing <br /> agreement with Guidant before buying <br /> _ Ventritex would shield St. Jude from <br /> those suits, according Scherer. <br /> In most cross-licensing deals, one com- <br /> ts pany pays another to use its patent and <br /> they agree not to sue each other, or their <br /> subsidiaries, over patent infringement. <br /> d St. Jude's Pacesetter division has such <br /> 3_ an agreement with Fridley-based <br /> Medtronic. It pays Medtronic about <br /> .d SUIT CONTINUED ON 2E 0, <br />