European Patent Office revokes Invista’s PET barrier bottle patent

M&G Chemicals, part of the Mossi Ghisolfi Group (“M&G”), announces that the European Patent Office (“EPO”) Appeals Board has revoked Invista Technologies S.à.r.l.’s (“Invista”) patent relevant to barrier resin products(*), in the 8 July 2014 Appeal Proceeding. As a consequence, all national parts of this Invista patent(*) lose their effect in any of the EPO countries.
In fact, over the past few years, Invista has unsuccessfully asserted that M&G Chemical’s PoliProtect resins infringe the national parts of the patent(*) in the courts of Italy and Germany and both courts have already found that the M&G Chemicals PoliProtect resins do not infringe their national equivalent of the patent(*).
In Germany, Invista has already withdrawn its appeal as a result of the EPO’s revocation. This withdrawal means that the German court’s judgment that M&G Chemical’s Poliprotect resins do not infringe the claims of the German counterpart of the patent(*) will become final.
According to Marco Ghisolfi, President and CEO of M&G Chemicals, M&G Chemicals welcomes the EPO’s decision as it confirms M&G Chemicals’ original position that Invista had no valid rights within this patent(*). M&G Chemicals has always believed that its PoliProtect resins did not infringe the national parts of this patent(*).
This revocation of the patent(*) removes any concerns related to the patent that M&G Chemical’s customers may have in their barrier resin purchasing decision.
(*) patent #: EP 1 663 630 B1