Litigation News

Neo Performance Materials settled European patent litigation with Rhodia Opérations (Solvay Group) for €7.1 million, resolving disputes over nine European patents including German and Estonian designations. Settlement covers Neo's European subsidiaries Neo Chemicals & Oxides (Europe) Ltd., NPM Silmet OÜ, and NPM C&O Europe OÜ. Payment due Q1 2026 with mutual release of claims. Most patents expired except EP 2 007 682 B1. No impact on automotive catalyst sales or earnings expected.

Four European Patent Office appeal cases (T 1026/23 Nestlé, T 1489/23 General Electric, T 1495/23 Daicel, T 1842/23 Wavefront Technology) resulted in patent revocations under Article 83 EPC for insufficient disclosure. Patents failed to provide adequate technical teaching for skilled persons to carry out inventions across claimed scope without undue experimentation. Cases involved neurogenesis compositions, additive manufacturing control, e-cigarette materials, and 3D optical security products. All patents had broad claims but narrow or vague descriptions.

2024 saw record IP damage awards: $4.3 billion in patent cases, $665 million in trade secrets cases. Middle-market companies face nuclear verdicts too, including a $38.9 million Massachusetts trademark verdict against vegetarian food companies, $22.7 million Delaware patent verdict against in-flight Wi-Fi operator, and $59 million Illinois trade secrets verdict against garbage truck manufacturer. Swiss Re study shows jurors equally likely to award large damages against smaller companies as Fortune 1000 firms.

ITC Limited sued Adyar Gate Hotels Limited for trademark infringement over the "DAKSHIN" restaurant name. Despite ITC's trademark and copyright registrations, the Delhi High Court refused an interim injunction, citing the parties' 1989-2015 service agreement, AGHL's concurrent trademark registration since 2004, and ITC's prolonged inaction constituting acquiescence. The court found both parties had complex historical claims requiring full trial rather than summary judgment.

Federal Circuit affirmed district court's claim construction in DDR Holdings v. Priceline.com, ruling that "merchants" in U.S. Patent No. 7,818,399 means producers, distributors, or resellers of goods only, not services. Court held that DDR's deletion of "services" references from the nonprovisional application specification, despite incorporating the broader provisional application by reference, signaled intent to exclude services from the claim scope. Decision highlights risks of modifying terminology between provisional and nonprovisional patent applications.

HFT Solutions sued Citadel Securities in December 2024 for allegedly infringing three patents related to field programmable gate arrays with external phase-locked loops. Citadel Securities filed a counterclaim on January 5, 2026, in Illinois Northern District Court seeking declaratory judgment that the asserted patents are invalid and not infringed. The case involves high-frequency trading technology patents between the two financial technology companies.

Chief Judge Kendall denied Middleton Mixology's preliminary injunction motion against HzSane for alleged infringement of patent '769 covering smoker devices. The court found HzSane raised substantial questions about infringement, as its device with closed bottom may not meet claim 8's "opposing open ends" requirement for "through bore." Middleton failed to prove irreparable harm beyond speculative assertions of lost goodwill without evidence of customer confusion or product inferiority.

Delhi High Court stayed an order restraining Automat Irrigation from selling its "Hydromat Valve" in patent dispute with Israel-based Aquestia Limited. Division Bench found Single Judge's August 2025 interim injunction order suffered from errors in claim construction and infringement analysis. Court held Single Judge incorrectly focused only on "characterized" portion of patent claim rather than construing claims holistically. Appeal challenges Aquestia's patent infringement allegations regarding FCV technology. Matter scheduled for February 9, 2026 hearing.

Japanese court ruled in favor of South Korean firm Pantech in patent infringement lawsuit against Google, resulting in ban on Pixel 7 series in Japan. The case involves 4G-related patents. Google's newer Pixel 8 and 9 series also face potential bans due to the same patent dispute. The court decision represents significant victory for Pantech in protecting its wireless technology intellectual property against Google's smartphone products in the Japanese market.

Delhi High Court stayed execution of a patent damages decree against Philips in a DVD replication patent infringement case. The Court declined to interfere with findings on infringement and patent validity but flagged flawed assumptions in the damages calculation. The stay prevents immediate enforcement of the monetary award while allowing the underlying infringement and validity determinations to stand.