After almost seven years of litigation against Element Six Technologies Ltd, the Court of Appeal issued its decision and allowed IIa Technologies’ appeal on February 17, 2023. IIа Technologies has finally been vindicated. Two of Element Six’s patents that were asserted against IIa Technologies were revoked by the Singapore Court, says a press release from IIa Technologies.
Element Six lost its first patent on February 7, 2020, when Honorable Justice Valerie Thean found that Element Six’s Singapore patent number 110508 was invalid and ordered the patent to be revoked.
On 17 February 2023, the Singapore Court of Appeal comprising the Honorable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice of Appeal Judith Prakash and Justice of Appeal Steven Chong unanimously found that the other Element Six’s patent in the suit, Singapore patent number 115872 was invalid and ordered the full revocation of the patent. SG872 concerned the production of CVD Diamond material for use as gems and in optical applications. The Court of Appeal found that SG872 was invalid on two grounds of insufficiency and therefore should be revoked in full. In its decision, the Court of Appeal also overturned the High Court of Singapore's finding of infringement. IIa Technologies has consistently and vigorously defended its rights to commercialise its proprietary, trade secret process for manufacturing lab-grown diamonds using CVD technology.
Prof. D. S. Misra, CTO of IIa Technologies, recently commented: “Not only have the patents been revoked but we are especially grateful that the Court of Appeal has overturned the findings of infringement as well. While the past seven years have been long, we do feel fully vindicated now that the process has been finally concluded in IIa Technologies’ favour.”
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
Element Six lost its first patent on February 7, 2020, when Honorable Justice Valerie Thean found that Element Six’s Singapore patent number 110508 was invalid and ordered the patent to be revoked.
On 17 February 2023, the Singapore Court of Appeal comprising the Honorable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice of Appeal Judith Prakash and Justice of Appeal Steven Chong unanimously found that the other Element Six’s patent in the suit, Singapore patent number 115872 was invalid and ordered the full revocation of the patent. SG872 concerned the production of CVD Diamond material for use as gems and in optical applications. The Court of Appeal found that SG872 was invalid on two grounds of insufficiency and therefore should be revoked in full. In its decision, the Court of Appeal also overturned the High Court of Singapore's finding of infringement. IIa Technologies has consistently and vigorously defended its rights to commercialise its proprietary, trade secret process for manufacturing lab-grown diamonds using CVD technology.
Prof. D. S. Misra, CTO of IIa Technologies, recently commented: “Not only have the patents been revoked but we are especially grateful that the Court of Appeal has overturned the findings of infringement as well. While the past seven years have been long, we do feel fully vindicated now that the process has been finally concluded in IIa Technologies’ favour.”
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
