Some facts to consider, Medtronic is licensing tech and IP (they did not buy the IP and do not own it). Any IP developed during this agreement is CO-OWNED by Titan and Medtronic. There is no way that Medtronic will walk away and allow another entity to come in and acquire Titan and all their IP and then hold that over Medtronic's head. There is no way Medtronic will allow another entity to have control of IP that is being utilized in their platform and allow that entity to employ that tech and IP in their own system. Completely Illogical. Also, the acquirer of Titan can rip up any old agreement and then completely screw Medtronic - again, completely ILLOGICAL.
As for the argument that it doesn't matter they already have it in their system so they don't need Titan, doesn't hold water b/c if they want to compete in the space, they can't let any other big Medtech (esp JNJ or ISRG) to acquire all the IP of Titan and just integrate the game changing IP into their own system which would then render Medtronic's IP and system advantages useless b/c they would have the same IP and advantages. I will say this, if Geoff Martha ends up letting Titan walk and it is scooped up by another major competitor in that space or worse let the 800 lb gorilla ISRG buy it, it might very well cost him his job. CEO's that make a blunder like that will not last long and Murtha seems to be a guy who is buttoned up and thinking long term. Remember that Murtha says that the future of Medtronic and their #1 priority is Surgical Robotics.
There is a reason ISRG is as dominant as they have been is b/c they have IP and no one was able to crack thru it until the IP started expiring. Imagine if ISRG didn't lock down their IP, they would not have become the giant in surgical robotics that they have become. All that points to the importance of anyone getting into this space to lock down IP - Medtronic will/should do the same.
