Arbitral award confirmed Outotec's joint ownership rights for ferroalloys technology patents and confirmed Outokumpu's breach of cooperation agreement
OUTOTEC OYJ PRESS RELEASE AUGUST 28, 2015 at 4:20 PM
Arbitral award confirmed Outotec's joint ownership rights for ferroalloys technology patents and confirmed Outokumpu's breach of cooperation agreement
Outotec commenced arbitration proceedings in the patent dispute against Outokumpu Oyj on February 14, 2014. The dispute concerns the rights to inventions relating to ferroalloys technology, for which Outokumpu has applied for patents without Outotec's permission. The parties had concluded their mutual Technology Cooperation Agreement in 2006.
According to the award issued by the Arbitral Tribunal on August 28, 2015: rights of ownership and use ferroalloys technology inventions belong to both Outotec and Outokumpu jointly. In addition, the Arbitral Tribunal stated that Outokumpu had breached the Technology Cooperation Agreement by applying for the patents alone and by omitting to inform Outotec of its intention to file patent applications for the said inventions.
Arbitral Tribunal also confirmed that Outotec has the exclusive right to commercially use the said inventions after Outotec and Outokumpu have agreed on the issue.
Outotec's claims for compensation were dismissed as premature.
Outotec will peruse the award in more detail and disclose separately its possible implications on the legal proceedings related to the same technologies at the Helsinki District Court.
"Confirming Outotec's rights to these patents is important with regard to Outotec's ability to commercialize this new technology. Outotec has developed methods for processing ferroalloys for decades, and this new technology opens up new business opportunities for Outotec", says Outotec's CTO Kari Knuutila.
The arbitral award on the ferroalloys technology patent dispute will not impact Outotec's financial guidance for 2015.
For further information please contact:
OUTOTEC
Nina Kiviranta, General Counsel
Tel. +358 50 598 8805
Kari Knuutila, Chief Technology Officer
Tel. +358 40 779 9566
Eila Paatela, Director - Corporate Communications
Tel. +358 20 529 2004, mobile +358 400 817198
Emails: firstname.lastname@outotec.com
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