Supreme Court decision on DyStar patent

21 Jun '07

3 min read

Bann Quimica and C.H. Patrick were both surprised when, after only one sale of its product into the U.S. in 2002, they were both sued by industry giant DyStar. Bann Quimica is a small, family-owned chemical business located in Sao Paulo, Brazil and this was its first patent litigation. Three generations of Banns have run the business in the 50-plus years since S.L. Bann founded the company when he came to Brazil after the rise of communism in China.

Bann Quimica makes and sells indigo dyes and chemicals to the rubber manufacturing industry. C.H. Patrick is a small chemical company and distributor located in Greenville, South Carolina. It primarily sells chemicals to the U.S. textile industry. Both Bann and C.H. Patrick were satisfied with the decision, even though it took many years to obtain and expended the companies' financial resources.

They hope to be able to recover a portion of the costs for the litigation from DyStar after the local court in South Carolina considers that issue. Both companies hope to gain a share of the U.S. denim business after being held out of the market for five years due to this patent litigation.

Similar suits had been brought by DyStar against Bann Quimica in Brazil and in Italy. The initial battle in Brazil was won by Bann Quimica when a court declared DyStar's Brazilian patent invalid. The case is still pending in Italy, with a decision expected later this year.

Neil Jones of the Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough law firm and lead attorney in the case for Bann Quimica and C.H. Patrick said that: "This was truly a case of Davids versus a Goliath. Fortunately, we had the true facts and the correct law on our side and the legal system arrived at the right result in the end."

DyStar Textilfarben GmbH & Co

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