A case related to the patent for polyphenylene sulfide resin (PPS)
A leading chemical company in South Korea, C company, and a leading chemical company in Japan, D company, were in competition over the market in the field of PPS resin, an engineering plastic. To overcome the D company’s patent map and do business freely, C company needed to invalidate D company’s basic patents related to the manufacture of the PPS resin and its composition. Here, AIP, representing C company, developed logics on the extended first-to-file and inventive step, and it successfully resulted in a judgment of invalidation of the patents. This case was an international case, in which disputes in Europe and Japan were also involved. Also, despite the defeat in Japan, by winning the trial in South Korea, AIP turned around the international disputes, and it became a bridgehead for C company’s making inroads into PPS markets.