The U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) has issued a notice terminating the patent infringement investigation brought by Kaneka Corporation with a finding of no violation by Zhejiang Medicine Co., Ltd. (“ZMC”).
The ITC instituted an investigation on July 19, 2011, based on a complaint filed by Kaneka on June 17, 2011 under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Kaneka’s complaint alleged that ZMC’s process for making coenzyme Q10 infringes Kaneka’s patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,910,340 (“the ‘340 patent”).
After a week-long trial in July 2012, Judge Rogers of the ITC issued an initial determination in favor of ZMC, finding that ZMC’s process does not infringe Kaneka’s patent, and that Kaneka failed to meet the ITC’s domestic industry requirement because its process is not covered by the ‘340 patent. Kaneka appealed Judge Rogers’ decision. The ITC’s November 29 notice rejected Kaneka’s appeal and affirmed Judge Rogers’ findings.
The ITC’s notice terminated the investigation with a final decision in favor of ZMC, ruling that there was no violation of Section 337 by ZMC based on its findings of non-infringement and no domestic industry.
