DELAWARE (Bloomberg) — Becton, Dickinson & Company may get more than $4 million in damages after a jury decided that a Tyco International spinoff company infringed its patent for hypodermic needle safety shields.

A federal jury of six women and two men in Wilmington, Delaware, deliberated about two hours before ruling for Becton today in a retrial of the lawsuit. Becton won $4.4 million in 2004 before US District Judge Gregory Sleet ordered a new trial.

"Obviously we're pleased with the verdict and we feel it reinforces our leadership and innovation in health-care worker safety efforts," Becton spokeswoman Colleen White said in a phone interview.

In 2002, Becton, based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, sued Tyco Healthcare, now Covidien, a separate company spun off in June. Last year, Sleet ordered a new trial on infringement because, during the first trial, Becton changed a description of how its product worked.

Tyco Healthcare "was losing market share and had a sense of urgency" when it "used Becton, Dickinson's product as a benchmark," Becton lawyer William F. Lee told jurors.

"We did not copy Becton, Dickinson's product," Tyco lawyer Juanita Brooks said during the trial.

Neither lawyer would comment after the verdict. Covidien spokesman David Young wasn't immediately available to comment on the verdict.

The needle shields are used with one hand, and slide forward after use to cover the tip and avoid accidental "sticks" that might transmit AIDS or hepatitis through the blood to medical workers.

In June, Bermuda-based Tyco International split into three public companies, including Covidien, Tyco Electronics and Tyco International. Tyco said November 15 that its fourth-quarter profit fell 36 percent to $210 million, partly because of expenses from the split.

Becton on November 2 reported record fiscal-year revenue of $6.36 billion, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.

Becton, the world's largest supplier of hypodermic syringes, rose $1.45 to $82.73 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company has risen 18 percent this year.

Covidien, based in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the world's second-biggest provider of disposable medical products behind Johnson & Johnson, rose $1.05 to $40.11 on the New York Stock Exchange.