Infineum wins patent case in South Korea

Infineum announced that the Korean Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of an important Infineum diesel fuel lubricity patent for Infineum R655. The Korean Trade Commission (KTC) ruled soon thereafter that a competing Dorf Ketal product, SR-2010, infringed this patent. The Korean Trade Commission imposed the largest fine the KTC has ever issued for this kind of case. Infineum has now filed a claim for monetary damages which is proceeding in the Seoul Central District Court.

“We are extremely pleased with the Korean Supreme Court and KTC decisions,” said Infineum’s Fuels Global Manager, Shee-Young Kim. “Infineum is a technology leader in the additives industry, and these decisions attest to the high level of innovation in our diesel fuel lubricity additive technology. Infineum invests significant time, resource and expense to develop great products for our customers, and we will continue to vigorously defend the validity of and enforce our intellectual property rights.”

The Infineum group was a pioneer in the diesel fuel lubricity additive business. Infineum R655, one of the leading products in the field, was invented by Infineum scientists in the 1990s and has been sold with demonstrated field performance for many years, to customers around the world, the company said. Infineum has built a strong intellectual property portfolio around this product.

“We believe that this intellectual property brings significant value to the additives industry and we work hard to ensure that this is respected by others in the industry,” the company said in a statement. 

The Infineum Group of Companies is a world-class petroleum additives enterprise. With global headquarters in Milton Hill, UK, Infineum is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of lubricant additives used primarily in automotive, heavy-duty diesel and marine engines, and additives for diesel fuels. Its customers are oil companies, other lubricant and fuel marketers and OEMs. The Infineum product line also includes specialty additives for small engines, automotive transmissions, gas engines and industrial oils. Infineum has business and technology centers in the U.S.A., UK, Singapore and China and has sales representation in more than 70 countries.