DSM Files Lawsuit Against Chinese Firm

DSM has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese company Hangzhou Pivot International for infringing its patents to produce high-performance polyethylene (HPPE) fiber used in bulletproof fabrics, high-strength rope, and cut-resistant garments.

Before it filed the suit, DSM obtained authorization from government authorities to seize merchandise that Hangzhou had on display in the fall at the Milipol 2005 exhibition on state security in Paris. The suit, filed before the Court of Paris, in France, asks judicial authorities to confirm that fiber, rope, and other finished articles exhibited by Hangzhou infringe DSM’s patents for its Dyneema fiber. It also asks the court to forbid further sale of HPPE fibers and finished products, to recall products sold, and to assess damages against the Chinese firm.

"We have taken this action to protect our firm from those who unlawfully try to copy our unique fiber technology," says DSM Dyneema President Christophe Dardel. “It is our policy to actively protect our intellectual property rights.”

This is not the first time DSM has taken action against a Chinese company to protect its franchise for the fiber, demand for which is growing fast. In 2004, DSM says, the company obtained a verdict from the District Court of The Hague, in the Netherlands, against CEN International Trading for infringing DSM's HPPE patents. The court ordered CEN to stop selling HPPE fiber.

Other chemical companies also have had their tiffs with Chinese producers. Last year, BASF and Bayer obtained injunctions against a number of Chinese agrochemical product makers and stopped them from promoting patent-infringing products at an agrochemical trade show in Glasgow, Scotland (C&EN, Nov. 14, 2005, page 39).