DuPont sues Hutchinson over flame barrier used on planes
Chemicals company DuPont has brought legal action against aerospace firm Hutchinson over alleged infringement of two of its patented flame-retardant materials used in aviation.
The patents in suit (US Patent 8,607,926 and US Patent 8,607,927) are flame barrier laminates for use in thermal acoustic blankets.
The claim was filed on June 16 at the US District Court of Delaware.
The blankets are designed to protect airline passengers and crew from fire and flame propagation, and their laminates “must be flexible, thin, and lightweight to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations”.
As argued in the complaint, DuPont’s Ley Richardson and Dariusz Kawka developed a multilayer laminate known as Nomex XF, launched in October 2013. The product consists of a polymeric film layer, an adhesive layer, and an inorganic refractory layer which have “reduced weight and improved resistance to flame spread”.
DuPont claims that Hutchinson’s Terflame product, which it sells to Airbus, is technically similar to Nomex.
The chemicals company also claims that Hutchinson and its subsidiaries have been aware of DuPont’s foreign and domestic patents covering this technology for “many years”, and accuse Hutchinson of having had knowledge of DuPont’s patent ‘926 since February 15, 2022.
DuPont describes the alleged infringements as “wilful, wanton and deliberate”, and seeks a permanent injunction on the patents-in-suit.
In 2013, DuPont sued one of its other competitors, Unifrax, for infringing its ’926 Patent, which it won after a years-long battle that was upheld on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson (through its subsidiary, Jehier SAS), previously filed an opposition before the European Patent Office (EPO) against DuPont in October 2013 on related technology. The EPO rejected its opposition in February 2020, and Hutchinson recently withdrew its appeal of the rejection.
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