Rollgard, nice find buried in here! I'll elaborate on the tidbit I am referencing, since it caused me to do a little more digging.
Sorry for the extended rant but I am convincing myself of something as I write this, so please bear with me (if you have a couple minutes...)
First, my two cents... MDT may have abandoned HUGO because the name looked too much like HUGE, like the footprint of that system!
I just clipped this off MDT's web site:
"The Medtronic robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system is an investigational device currently in development. It is not available for sale or human use and its safety and effectiveness have not been established. The RAS system is not cleared or approved in the U.S., EU, or any other market. Features and technology of future RAS systems may vary. Access to the RAS system is contingent upon regulatory approval or clearance. Approval or clearance timelines are subject to the regulatory process of individual countries and regions and are not guaranteed."
No mention of HUGO.
I searched the entire MDT web site for HUGO. 5 links appears; the first was about 2017 hurricane relief in Puerto Rico; they mentioned Hurricane Hugo. The other four links make no reference to HUGO; I'm guessing they once did but those articles were recently stripped clean of HUGO and the links only showed up because the HTML code contained the edits where HUGO references were deleted.
So, what do we now know???
We know that it looks like MDT's former surgical robotic program's featured performed has been forcefully retired and the carcass seems to have been buried deep, as if it was an embarrassment in retrospect - despite having had a budget that other large companies envy.
We know that MDT has entered into some form of business and/or license agreement with Titan, who owns the rights to the Anti-HUGO, a sleek, capable unit that lacked the funding to cross the finish line without financial help.
It's like the old "Hey, you got peanut butter on my chocolate!" commercials. Our tech and their money, a match made in heaven and everybody wins.
Until your post about Mr. Zaring, I didn't realize the extent to which they were killing HUGO; I just assumed they would incorporate some of Titan's licensed tech into the HUGO platform to have big-scale and small-scale offerings. I didn't realize it was going away; but it appears to be gone without a trace.
So then there are questions like "Why don't they just buy us outright?" Look at the Mazor deal. Hand them some cash to fully de-risk the platform, then scoop in a most Adrock-like fashion! Because nobody wants to approve a multi-billion dollar deal with any residual risk. Mr. Zaring was sent in for preliminary inspection; he gives it a green light; we get funding (more on this in a moment); we cross the finish line and get absorbed like Mazor - but hopefully for a sum more commensurate with our system's capabilities!
As for the funding... They need to get something in return, so how about licensing on some of our tech... Maybe to create a sister product line, or improve some other of their offerings with Titan tech. Or maybe to begin ramping up some internal marketing materials, or get a jump start on something they know is pretty much in the bag. But they had to get something for their money, and the milestones? Why should Medtronic care about Titan meeting milestones unless the end game is acquisition? I don't have an answer for that, other than the end game MUST be acquisition.
I had thought this would be the likely scenario (acquisition) but with still a chance Titan stays solo - and competes with Medtronic?? I just don't see that as being a possibility anymore with the disappearance of our bloated friend HUGO.
One last thing... can you share a link to the trademark office page where it show's the abandonment of HUGO? That would make it absolute in my mind!
AI
