3 December 1998: The board of management of Draka Holding N.V. of Amsterdam (wire and cable) announced the settlement of a patent dispute with Corning Inc. of New York. In a recent company press relea…
3 December 1998: The board of management of Draka Holding N.V. of Amsterdam (wire and cable) announced the settlement of a patent dispute with Corning Inc. of New York. In a recent company press release, Draka said that for its fibre customers, the settlement ensures the continued and uninterrupted worldwide distribution of high-quality optical fibre and optical fibre cable products The settlement will have no negative consequences for Draka“s results or its financial position. The patent dispute between Draka and Corning began in the Spring of 1998 (see GlassOnline report of 23 April 1998) with Corning“s filing of complaints at the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and the UK Patent Court. The complaints were filed against Draka operating companies Plasma Optical Fibre B.V. (POF) of Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and Chromatic Technologies of Franklin, Massachusetts (US). Later, Yangtze Optical Fiber and Cable Co. (YOFC) of Wuhan, China, was added as a party. With respect to the US proceeding, the complaint alleged that POF and YOFC had violated the United States trade laws by importing glass fibre into the United States manufactured by a process on which Corning holds a patent. Draka“s operating companies vigorously denied any wrongdoing, asserted significant defenses, and brought POF“s own intellectual property rights on the relevant technology to Corning“s attention. Soon thereafter, Corning agreed to settle the case. Since they are using their own process to make optical fibres for the US market, Draka“s operating companies will continue to be able to furnish optical fibres to current and future customers in the US, notwithstanding the consent order. The UK complaint centered on the European counterpart to Corning“s US patent. The settlement also covered the UK case. The UK Patent court has accepted the parties“ settlement and the Administrative Law Judge in the ITC proceeding has recommended to the ITC that the case should be resolved in accordance with the parties settlement agreement. The parties have agreed to make no further statements about the contents of the settlement. Draka Holding is an international group of companies, sharing the mission to provide appropriate wire and cable solutions to customers across the world. Operating in Europe, North America and the Middle and Far East, Draka is devoted exclusively to the development, production and sale of wire and cable for energy and data transmission and communications.