JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Synthetic diamond supermaterials company Element Six Technologies has launched legal action against Singapore-based synthetic diamonds producer IIa Technologies, alleging infringement of its patents concerning synthetic diamond material.
The De Beers-held company on Tuesday said it believed that certain of its patents for proprietary synthetic diamond products and its method of manufacturing had been infringed. It, therefore, sought to defend its intellectual property rights and business interests.
The patents in question related to production of material which had a combination of high-optical transparency in the visible and infrared spectral regions and low-crystalline stress – desirable in optical applications such as infrared spectroscopy and high-power laser optics.
Element Six claimed that IIa Technologies was exploiting its patents for commercial gain, potentially in both the industrial/technology and jewellery sectors.
The company argued that, as it had invested hundreds of millions of dollars over more than 50 years to develop new material to tackle some of science and industry’s most intractable challenges, the use of its patents, without its consent, negatively impacted its ability to receive a full return from its investment and undermined its ability to carry out further important research and development.