A U.S. patent appeals court ruled in favor of TriMed Inc on Tuesday in a suit which accused Stryker Corp of infringing its patent for an implantable device to be used for broken bones. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and sent the case back for a rehearing.

TriMed had accused Stryker, one of the biggest makers of artificial hips and knees, of selling a device for wrist fractures that infringed TriMed's patent for an implantable device that would attach to stable portions of broken bones and hold the fractured portions in place.

The district court had given a summary judgment of non-infringement. TriMed appealed. "We hold that Stryker has failed to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact that its accused devices do not infringe," the appeals court said in its ruling.

"The grant of summary judgment of non-infringement must be reversed," the court said. "We remand for further proceedings consistent with our opinion and in view of the entire record."