Chemours files second lawsuit over R1234yf
12th November 2021
USA: Chemours has filed a second R1234yf patent infringement lawsuit in Japan against Japanese refrigerant manufacturer AGC Inc.
The lawsuit alleges infringement of Chemours’ patents covering product compositions of the HFO refrigerant.
Now the current industry standard for the air conditioning systems in new cars, R1234yf has been the subject of a number of court actions since its introduction nearly 10 years ago. Chemours and Honeywell hold most or all of the patents issued for HFO-1234yf, although some of these have been disputed and remain the subject of court actions. Honeywell has also previously taken a number of patent infringement actions against different manufacturers.
Chemours last took action against AGC in November 2019, alleging infringement of Chemours’ patents covering product compositions and usage of R1234yf in automotive air conditioning and stationary refrigeration applications in Japan.
In a statement on the latest action, Chemours said that the action reaffirmed its commitment “to vigorously defend its intellectual property and investment” in its Opteon-brand low GWP refrigerants. It said that this builds on its on-going efforts to stop “the unlicensed manufacture, marketing, and sales” of its R1234yf “by all legal means wherever that activity occurs around the world”.
AGC has so far made no comment on the action.
Related stories:
Chemours claims AGC infringed R1234yf patents – 20 November 2019
USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Chemours has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Japan against Japanese chemical manufacturer AGC over the HFO refrigerant R1234yf. Read more…
Honeywell reports second R1234yf seizure – 17 September 2019
BELGIUM: Refrigerant manufacturer Honeywell has announced a further seizure of patent-busting R1234yf in Poland, the second seizure in that country in just three months. Read more…
Honeywell stops patent-busting R1234yf shipment – 25 July 2019
USA/POLAND: Polish customs authorities have seized a shipment of suspected patent-infringing R1234yf refrigerant at the Baltic port of Gdynia. Read more…
Honeywell gets tough on R1234yf – 30 October 2018
USA: Action by Honeywell has resulted in the seizure of a shipment of R1234yf, with the refrigerant manufacturer filing alleged patent infringement lawsuits in the Czech Republic and Germany. Read more…
