Siemens Unit Plans to Appeal in Patent Fight

Siemens-Pacesetter, a Sylmar-based heart pacemaker company, said it plans to appeal a decision by a federal court in Illinois that it has infringed on a patent held by its chief competitor, Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis.

The court found last week that Siemens-Pacesetter, a unit of German electronics concern Siemens AG, had infringed on a Medtronic patent for a technology that uses signals from the body to control the rate of pacesetters.

Siemens-Pacesetter, which has discontinued sales of the two types of pacemakers involved in the dispute, denied that it infringed the Medtronic patent.

A Siemens-Pacesetter spokesman said the two companies are scheduled to meet on Oct. 21 to discuss damages and other issues.