Stryker v. OsteoMed: Federal Circuit Issues Split Ruling on Bone Plate Patent
Stryker Corporation and Wright Medical Technology appealed a patentability decision involving OsteoMed’s US10245085B2, covering a bone plate with a transfixation screw hole. After 865 days, the Federal Circuit issued a fractured ruling — affirming some determinations, reversing others, and remanding further issues — leaving the patent’s full scope unsettled.
A fractured Federal Circuit verdict on orthopaedic bone-plate patentability
Stryker Corporation and Wright Medical Technology, Inc. jointly appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Case No. 23-1929), challenging the patentability of OsteoMed LLC’s US10245085B2 — a patent covering a bone plate incorporating a transfixation screw hole, a technology used in orthopaedic fixation procedures. The appeal was filed on 22 May 2023 and arose from an invalidity or cancellation action, suggesting the underlying dispute likely involved inter partes review or a similar post-grant proceeding before the USPTO.
The Federal Circuit closed the case on 3 October 2025 with a notably fragmented disposition: affirmed-in-part, vacated and remanded-in-part, and reversed-in-part. Simultaneously, portions of the appeal were dismissed. This split outcome means neither Stryker and Wright Medical nor OsteoMed achieved a complete victory. Some of the lower tribunal’s patentability findings were upheld, others were nullified and sent back for further proceedings, and at least one determination was outright reversed — creating ongoing uncertainty over the patent’s full claim scope.
The 865-day duration of the appeal is consistent with complex multi-issue Federal Circuit proceedings where the panel must resolve distinct patentability questions across separate claim sets. The partial dismissal component suggests procedural standing or jurisdictional issues may have narrowed which issues were fully adjudicated on the merits. What remains unknown from the public record is the precise claims affected by each disposition and whether the remanded issues will result in further appeal or settlement between the parties.
Filing to Appeal Dismissed in Part in 865 days
865 days from filing to close — longer than the median Federal Circuit patent appeal
Federal Circuit split ruling: what each disposition means for both parties
A three-way split: affirmed, reversed, and vacated on different claims
A Federal Circuit ruling of ‘affirmed-in-part, vacated and remanded-in-part, reversed-in-part’ means the court parsed the lower tribunal’s decision claim by claim or issue by issue. ‘Affirmed’ means no reversible error was found on those points; ‘reversed’ means the court found clear legal error and changed the outcome; ‘vacated and remanded’ means the lower decision is nullified on those issues and must be reconsidered. This is among the most complex dispositions an appellate court can issue.
Multi-disposition appealOsteoMed retains some claims but loses ground on others
For OsteoMed as patent holder, the ‘affirmed’ portion preserves whatever patentability findings ran in its favour below. However, the ‘reversed-in-part’ element is a direct loss — the Federal Circuit found error in at least one favourable determination below. The vacated-and-remanded portion creates renewed uncertainty, as those issues return to the lower tribunal and could ultimately go against OsteoMed. The patent’s enforceability against Stryker and Wright Medical products remains partially unresolved.
Partial patent survivalStryker and Wright Medical win on reversal but face continued proceedings
The appellants — Stryker Corporation and Wright Medical Technology — achieved a partial victory through the reversal component, meaning at least one patentability determination was corrected in their favour. The vacated-and-remanded issues give them a further opportunity to prevail at the tribunal below. However, the affirmed portion means some claims or findings they challenged remain intact. Part of their appeal was also dismissed, suggesting certain arguments did not survive procedural scrutiny at the Federal Circuit.
Partial challenger winBone-plate IP landscape remains contested; competitors face lingering uncertainty
For orthopaedic device companies designing or selling bone plates with transfixation screw holes, this split ruling extends commercial uncertainty. The remanded issues could take months or years to resolve, prolonging the period during which the patent’s exact scope is unclear. Competitors seeking to design around US10245085B2 should monitor the remand proceedings closely. The reversal component may narrow the patent’s enforceable scope, potentially opening design space, but the affirmed claims continue to pose infringement risk.
Sector IP risk persistsFull party and counsel information
| Role | Name | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Stryker Corporation | Company | Global orthopaedic device corporations — challengers of US10245085B2Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Co-Plaintiff | Wright Medical Technology, Inc. | Company | Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant | OsteoMed, LLC | Company | OsteoMed, LLC — orthopaedic implant company and holder of US10245085B2Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | Sharon Hwang | Attorney | Counsel for Stryker CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff law firm | McAndrews, Held & Malloy Ltd. | Law Firm | Representing Stryker CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Jason Alexander Engel | Attorney | Counsel for OsteoMed, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant law firm | K&L Gates, LLP | Law Firm | Representing OsteoMed, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Presiding judge | Judge N/A | Judge | Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitSearch in Eureka ↗ |
Official order — verbatim text
The Federal Circuit’s disposition — ‘affirmed-in-part, vacated and remanded-in-part, reversed-in-part’ — with a partial dismissal is among the most complex outcomes available to an appellate panel. It reflects granular, claim-by-claim or issue-by-issue review of the lower tribunal’s patentability determinations. Under the applicable appellate standard, legal conclusions on patentability are reviewed de novo while any underlying factual findings typically receive deference. The partial dismissal component suggests the court found it lacked jurisdiction or that certain issues were not properly preserved, further fragmenting the final disposition and leaving the ultimate enforceability of US10245085B2 contested.
US10245085B2 — Bone plate with transfixation screw hole
US10245085B2, filed under application number US15/707891, protects a bone plate incorporating a transfixation screw hole — a structural design feature in orthopaedic internal fixation devices. Bone plates are used to stabilise fractures or osteotomies by securing across bone segments, and the transfixation screw configuration relates to how fasteners engage the plate and bone at defined angles or positions. The patent sits within the competitive orthopaedic implant technology domain, where precise screw-hole geometry can affect both mechanical stability and surgical technique.
For major orthopaedic device companies including Stryker and its subsidiary Wright Medical — both of whom are significant market participants in foot, ankle, and extremity fixation — the scope of OsteoMed’s US10245085B2 carries direct product-line implications. If enforceable in its broadest surviving form, the patent could restrict competing bone plate designs featuring analogous transfixation configurations. The Federal Circuit’s partial reversal may narrow this threat, but the remanded issues mean the final enforceable perimeter is not yet defined, making ongoing patent monitoring essential for any orthopaedic device developer or manufacturer.
Should you run an FTO analysis against US10245085B2?
Any company designing, manufacturing, or distributing bone plates with transfixation screw holes — particularly in foot, ankle, wrist, or extremity fixation segments — should assess exposure against US10245085B2. Given the Federal Circuit’s mixed ruling, the patent’s exact enforceable claim scope is in flux: affirmed claims remain live infringement risks, while reversed and remanded claims are subject to change. Relying on a pre-appeal FTO analysis is now insufficient; an updated assessment is warranted.
PatSnap Eureka’s FTO Search Agent allows R&D and IP teams to map their bone plate product features against the current claim landscape of US10245085B2, identify which claim elements survived Federal Circuit review, and benchmark competitor patent positions across orthopaedic fixation technology. With the remand proceedings still pending, setting up automated monitoring against this patent family ensures your team is alerted the moment the PTAB issues a new determination that could shift your FTO exposure.
Run a freedom-to-operate analysis on US10245085B2 to assess your product’s exposure
Run FTO in Eureka →Similar Federal Circuit bone plate and orthopaedic implant patent appeals
Explore related Federal Circuit appeals involving orthopaedic implant patentability challenges, including bone plate and fixation device cases with comparable invalidity or cancellation dispute profiles.
What this case signals for the orthopaedic implant IP landscape
A fractured Federal Circuit ruling on bone fixation technology keeps competitors in uncertainty and reshapes the risk calculus for the sector.
Split Federal Circuit rulings extend commercial uncertainty — plan for remand
When a Federal Circuit appeal ends affirmed-in-part, reversed-in-part, and vacated-in-part, the litigation is rarely truly over. Companies operating in the orthopaedic fixation space should anticipate further proceedings at the tribunal below on remanded issues and build that timeline into IP strategy and product launch decisions.
Partial reversal may signal claim scope narrowing — update FTO analyses now
The reversed-in-part disposition suggests the Federal Circuit found at least one patentability determination below to be legally incorrect. For competitors in bone-plate fixation technology, this may open design space that was previously foreclosed. Freedom-to-operate analyses relying on the original scope of US10245085B2 should be revisited in light of this outcome.
Stryker v OsteoMed — key questions answered
The Federal Circuit issued a split ruling: affirmed-in-part, vacated and remanded-in-part, and reversed-in-part, with portions of the appeal also dismissed. This means neither party achieved a complete win. Some patentability findings below were upheld, others were reversed, and further issues were sent back to the lower tribunal for reconsideration.
The patent at issue is US10245085B2 (application number US15/707891), held by OsteoMed LLC. It covers a bone plate with a transfixation screw hole, a structural feature used in orthopaedic internal fixation devices for stabilising bone fractures or osteotomies.
Vacated and remanded-in-part means the Federal Circuit nullified the lower tribunal’s decision on certain issues and ordered those specific questions to be reconsidered. The lower tribunal — likely the PTAB — must re-examine those patentability issues applying any corrected legal standards the Federal Circuit specified, potentially resulting in a different outcome for those claim sets.
The partial dismissal suggests that certain issues raised by Stryker and Wright Medical did not survive procedural scrutiny — possibly due to lack of appellate standing, failure to properly preserve the arguments below, or the Federal Circuit lacking jurisdiction over specific determinations. The public record does not specify the precise grounds, but dismissal without a merits ruling is distinct from the affirmed or reversed components.
The split ruling extends uncertainty for companies designing bone plates with transfixation screw features. Affirmed claims in US10245085B2 remain enforceable against potentially infringing products. The reversed portion may narrow the patent’s scope, opening some design space. However, remanded issues will return to the lower tribunal, meaning the final claim perimeter is not yet settled. Updated freedom-to-operate analyses and active patent monitoring are advisable for all market participants in this space.
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