DuPont sues Invista, Invista sues DuPont

DuPont, claiming patent infringement and the misappropriation of company trade secrets, has filed a lawsuit against Invista seeking unspecified damages.

Invista, meanwhile, filed a similar lawsuit in Delaware state court Wednesday against a company it says is partnering with DuPont to misappropriate Invista technology.

In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, DuPont is asking for a permanent injunction, declaratory relief and damages related to Invista’s production of nylon 6,6 engineering resins. DuPont says the two companies had an agreement that Invista would not use DuPont technology to make nylon 6,6 engineering resins “for several years.”

“As a science company, DuPont has long been committed to protecting its patents, trade secrets and proprietary technology,” said Thomas L. Sager, DuPont senior vice president and general counsel in a statement. “Based on its statements and actions involving the production of nylon 6,6 engineering resins, Invista apparently has infringed one or more DuPont patents, breached a technology transfer agreement with DuPont and misappropriated other valuable DuPont intellectual property.”

Responding to DuPont’s lawsuit, Invista spokeswoman Mary Beth Jarvis said that it is complying with the agreements made with DuPont.

“Invista continues to fulfill all of its obligations under the various agreements related to the Invista purchase,” Jarvis said in a statement.

DuPont and Invista, according to Jarvis, agreed not to compete with each other for five years in the engineering polymers market space, with the agreement expiring next spring. Jarvis says Invista “until then .... is not manufacturing, distributing, selling or reselling engineering polymers.”

Invista’s lawsuit filed Wednesday is against Rhodia, an international chemicals company, for what it says is the theft and misappropriation of Invista’s chemical process technology.

On Aug. 15, Invista filed a claim in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Rhodia and DuPont partnered to misappropriate Invista’s adiponitrile (ADN) technology while unlawfully using Invista’s trade secrets to expand in the nylon chemicals business. Invista withdrew that lawsuit following an Oct. 30 jurisdictional ruling in federal court.

Invista says it bought the ADN technology several years ago from DuPont in a $4.2 billion deal. Invista alleges that Rhodia is, illegally, developing an ADN facility in Asia, with DuPont an investor in Rhodia’s ADN expansion plans.

“These claims are needed to stop Rhodia and DuPont from unlawfully using Invista’s intellectual property to build an ADN manufacturing plant in Asia or elsewhere,” Jarvis said in a statement.

In March, Invista filed an $800 million lawsuit against DuPont back in March, claiming factories it bought from the chemical maker – including the one in Waynesboro – did not comply with environmental and safety regulations. DuPont called those Invista allegations “grossly exaggerated” and misguided, and filed a counterclaim against Invista in May.

In September, Invista laid off about 70 contractors at the Waynesboro facility – a “temporary curtailment,” company spokeswoman Erica Taylor said previously – due to the supply of raw materials from Invista’s three Texas companies following their shutdown due to two hurricanes that hit in that region earlier this year.

Invista is Waynesboro’s largest employer with 1,100 workers and normally has about 500 contract workers.