Court Rules ZMC Didn't Infringe on Kaneka's Patent

THE WOODLANDS, TexasThe U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled ZMC and ZMC-USA did not infringe on Kaneka Corp.'s coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) patent (no. 7,910,340). Judge Rogers found Kaneka's 340 patent is valid, but ZMC's manufacturing process did not infringe on it.

"ZMC and ZMC-USA have consistently maintained our position of non-infringement since the Kaneka patent first issued," said Johnny Jin, President & CEO of ZMC-USA. "We are thankful to our customers who have continued to support ZMC-USA, and we look forward to resuming service of those customers who have been negatively impacted by this unnecessary litigation".

The patent battle between ZMC and Kaneka started in March 2011 when both companies filed separate court filings after Kaneka obtained the patent.  Kaneka Corp filed a patent infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles accusing  ZMC and several other companies of infringing on the new 340 patent.

In return, ZMC-USA LLC filed two complaints against Kaneka Corp saying the 340 patent offers no improvement over existing technology and is not economically feasible on a commercial scale." ZMC asked the court to declare it did not infringe on the 340 patent.

In June 2011, Kaneka filed a complaint (No. 337-TA-2822) with USITCan independent federal agency charged with investigating and adjudicating on matters of tradealleging unfair trade practices by importing and selling CoQ10 products related to the patent at issue. Kanekas complaint requested the USITC investigate the alleged use of the 340 patent by the ZMC and other companies, and issue an exclusion order banning the importation of infringing products, and halting marketing, advertising and warehousing of inventory for distribution and use in the United States.

In August 2011, Kaneka Corp. dismissed the original lawsuit and decided to focus solely on the USITC case.