US and Korean companies in German court patent battle
Engineered materials company Rogers Corporation, based in the US, has sued Korean chemical and auto parts manufacturer KCC Corporation for patent infringement in Germany.
Rogers announced yesterday, June 5, that its German subsidiary had filed the lawsuit in Düsseldorf, citing infringement of European patent number 1 061 783. The patent is called “Ceramic-metal substrate, particularly multiple substrate”.
According to Rogers, KCC has infringed the patent by offering in Germany direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate master cards that contain patented features.
Rogers said DBC substrates are electrically insulating and thermally conductive industrial ceramics to which copper foil has been directly bonded.
“The result is a metallised ceramic substrate with high thermal conductivity, superior heat spreading capability and low thermal expansion properties, all of which are essential for high performance power electronics applications,” said Rogers.
The company said the complaint is based on the German part of the ‘783 patent in the form maintained by the European Patent Office (EPO) following an opposition decision.
EPO records show that after KCC and German metals company Heraeus opposed the patent, the EPO issued an interlocutory decision in December 2016. All three parties have since appealed against that ruling, and the case is pending before the EPO’s Boards of Appeal.
Robert Daigle, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Rogers, said: “We will enforce our patent rights to protect our substantial investment in innovation.”
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