KKPC reacts to escalation of Flexsys' action

ERJ staff report (DS)

Seoul, Korea -- Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. of Seoul, Korea ("KKPC"), has issued a statement responding to Flexsys' recent statements concerning legal action over Flexsys' patents.

"Previous complaints made by Flexsys on the same patents have been resolved in KKPC's favor," remarked Sung Kyu Lim, KKPC's Senior Vice President, "It is regrettable that Flexsys has chosen to improperly sue again on patent claims it has lost, even after stipulating it would not do so, and then to issue a press release in what appears to be a desperate and illegitimate attempt to poison the market for KKPC's products. We are confident that we will once again defeat Flexsys' patent claims, as we have done in the past."

In its new ITC Complaint, Flexsys re-asserts infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 5,453,541 ("'541 patent") and U.S. Patent No. 5,608,111 ("'111 patent"), pertaining to processes for producing 4-ADPA and 6-PPD. With Flexsys' agreement, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ordered Flexsys on November 8, 2006 to never again file a patent infringement action against KKPC involving the processes currently being used to produce KKPC's 6PPD products. Flexsys' new ITC action is in violation of that Court Order. On July 13, 2006, the ITC entered a Final Determination in Flexsys' previous ITC action against KKPC that KKPC did not infringe Flexsys' '111 patent. Flexsys chose not to appeal the Final Determination in favor of KKPC. On December 21, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit also found that KKPC's 4-ADPA supplier, Sinorgchem Co, Shandong, did not literally infringe Flexsys' '111 patent. Flexsys' request for a rehearing of that adverse appellate decision was denied, without comment, on April 7, 2008.

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Press release from KKPC