De Beers wins 2016 CVD synthetic diamond patent war

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

A court has awarded a limited victory to De Beers’ synthetic-diamond production unit in a patent dispute with Singapore-based grower IIa Technologies.

Diamonds.net - De Beers Scores Partial CVD Patent Victory

A court has awarded a limited victory to De Beers’ synthetic-diamond production unit in a patent dispute with Singapore-based grower IIa Technologies.IIa infringed an Element Six patent related to diamond material that’s usable for lab-grown diamond jewelry and industrial applications,...

www.diamonds.net

I have read many many De Beers patents and it was rather obvious they will make life difficult for many competitor companies.
In USA breach of patent carries punitive damages for loss of earnings. That can mean up to 2 or 3 times the "loss of profits" from sales that were made based on technology that was "stolen".
I expect De Beers will wait until they have their new Portland factory up and running and file those claims after US companies have made loads of sales.
This I predict with hand over heart

 

[Rfisher]

So if a US based company sold/sells the goods produced from a Singapore based production company, Debeers will go after the US based retailer?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

So if a US based company sold/sells the goods produced from a Singapore based production company, Debeers will go after the US based retailer?

Not sure, not a laywer. I think it applies to companies growing diamonds in USA if they breach De beers patents.

 

[sledge]

Not a lawyer either but worth noting Element Six is a UK based company and the actual company that got the ruling in their favor against the Singapore company.

It appears Element Six produces LightBox diamonds.

Elememt Six has 2 businesses:. Technology which DeBeers wholly owns and, Abrasives which DeBeers has 60% ownership.

Being a UK and Singapore company, it appears this is an international issue and I would think based on the ruling that DeBeer/Element Six could pursue both international manufacturers and domestic suppliers for infringement damages, assuming US companies are subject to the same international rulings.

Perhaps @MollyMalone can weigh in more.

Edited to Add:
Including info about DeBeers owning Element Six.

Technology

Technology

www.debeersgroup.com

 

[Karl_K]

The lawsuit was in Singapore under Singapore law.
Not anything to effect US producers yet.