Settlement Reached in Court Case with U.S. Firm Thixomat
Nissei Plastic Industrial has reached a settlement with U.S. company Thixomat, which it had brought a suit against in the Tokyo District Court. This lawsuit stemmed from Thixomat distributing several documents in early 2001 to Japanese licensees of Nissei's magnesium (Mg) molding machines and Mg molding technology claiming that they were infringing upon numerous patents possessed by Thixomat. Due to this, Nissei sought damages based on the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, and in February 2004, brought a case to the Tokyo District Court. On this occasion, the Tokyo District Court set forth a settlement proposal and as a result of Nissei adjudging the overall effects of issues such as a prolonged court case, the settlement proposal was accepted and a formal settlement was reached on March 6 of this year with the lawsuit thus coming to an end. An outline of the contents of the settlement proposal is as follows: Thixomat will pay Nissei a settlement fee. The MG product manufacturing method using Mg molding machines marketed by Nissei and the said molding machine do not infringe upon patents possessed by Thixomat throughout the world when in the barrel section (material melting and retention section), 1) the magnesium or magnesium alloy is in a fully molten state, 2) a screw extruder is not employed. Through the current settlement, it has been confirmed that there are no problems at all regarding the sale and export of products manufactured with Nissei's Mg molding machines and consequently, users that have purchased Nissei Mg molding machines, as well as potential users that had hesitated to install Nissei Mg molding machine due to uncertainties concerning patent issues with Thixomat can now use the machines with peace of mind. Nissei currently markets the FMg3000 type molding machine for low melting point metals. This machine has a clamping force of 1,370 kN (140 tons) and an injection volume of 120 cc. Through the current settlement, Nissei plans to introduce new machines suited to molding of even larger parts, while at the same time stepping up marketing efforts.
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