Intellectual property rights serve suppliers and customers

Bayer will rigorously fight patent infringements

22-May-2002

Leverkusen – Spectacular cases of product piracy and patent infringement in connection with software, audio and video products have spurred public interest of late. The consequences have included a wide-ranging discussion about the protection of intellectual property rights and legal action against the offending parties. Patent infringement has also been increasingly observed in other high-technology industries. For some time now, particularly in the Far East, the authorities have been identifying samples of imitation flame- retardant polycarbonate/ABS blends of the type sold by Bayer AG under the trade name Bayblend® FR.

One such case involving the infringement of existing patent rights has now been discovered by Bayer at a well-known distribution company in Germany and verified by studying the composition of the acquired product. An injunction has been issued to ensure that in future the distributor refrains from selling the material that is infringing patent law. A large Korean plastics producer was named as the source of the material, and further action against this supplier is being considered. As a result of this case, Bayer will intensify its efforts to uncover further potential instances of patent infringement. These efforts are not only in the best interests of the company, which will rigorously fight all obvious cases of patent infringement, they are also aimed at safeguarding product quality on behalf of Bayer's customers.

In the late 1980s, Bayer AG – one of the world's leading suppliers of engineering thermoplastics – introduced to the market for the first time a range of flame-retardant polycarbonate/ABS blends manufactured without chlorine- and bromine-containing additives. A large market quickly developed for the products, which are mainly used as a housing material for IT applications such as monitors, printers and laptops. Bayer used its experience and know-how to steadily improve the materials through a number of patent- protected developments. The driving force behind this development was the booming IT market and increasing environmental consciousness among consumers and manufacturers. The most recent generation of Bayblend FR products satisfies the requirements for labeling with the TCO '99 and Blue Angel environment symbols.

Manufacturers of IT systems have already been notified of Bayer's patent position in Europe, the United States and Japan through an extensive information campaign. In countries with existing patent laws, it is prohibited for non-patent-holders to sell plastic granules and to market end products such as monitors containing plastic components made of patent- protected material.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/10808/intellectual-property-rights-serve-suppliers-and-customers.html