Covidien (COV) does not infringe certain patents held by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) company, according to a summary judgment ruling issued by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio. As a result of this ruling, the Ethicon patent infringement action is dismissed and Covidien remains free to continue selling its Sonicision cordless ultrasonic dissection system. Ethicon sued Covidien in December 2011, claiming that Covidien’s award-winning Sonicision system infringed a number of Ethicon patents. In a Jan. 22 ruling, the Court found that Covidien does not infringe any of the seven Ethicon patents in dispute, and also ruled that five of Ethicon’s patents are invalid.