Hyundai Motors ended up losing in Patent Litigation

Hyundai Motor lost in patent invalidation lawsuit,

HYUNDAI MOTOR has finally lost of its patent infringement lawsuit with a SME. Hyundai Motor has been in a dispute with BJC, a small and medium-sized company with a patent on the odor removal method from automobile painting process. The Supreme Court finally handed over the BJC's hand in the patent invalidation lawsuit filed by BJC against HYUNDAI MOTOR's patent, and it seems that HYUNDAI MOTOR's patent technology will be nullified.

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 Controversy over stealing technology of Hyundai Motor,

HYUNDAI MOTOR and BJC have jointly registered the related patents in 2006 by jointly studying the technology to remove odors that occurred during the coating process since 2004. However, in 2015, HMC has developed a new technology for deodorization in cooperation with Kyungpook National University. After HMC filed a patent alone, they terminated the contract with BJC a few months later. In response, BJC has claimed that Hyundai Motor took over their technology, filed a lawsuit for invalidation of registered patents, and the controversy over stealing technology has begun.

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 Invalidity trial and Appeal, and Supreme Court,

The patent invalidation lawsuit lasted about four years. In response to the BJC's request for invalidation of the trial, the Patent Tribunal acknowledged that the patentability of HYUNDAI MOTOR's patented technology was invalid, and the patent court they appealed also judged the patent invalid. However, they appealed again to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and maintained the judgment of the court, which judged the patent invalid.

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 An unfinished dispute,

The Supreme Court ruling invalidated the patent, but the dispute between Hyundai Motor and BJC is not likely to end. The ruling was based on whether the patent was invalid or not, but the lawsuit which BJC filed against Hyundai Motor for breach of the subcontract and fair trade laws is still going on. Currently, the first trial has made a non-complaint about the alleged technology depletion, but the BJC has appealed. As the Supreme Court finds that the patent is invalid, it is necessary to see how the lawsuit will proceed in the future. The dispute between Hyundai Motor and BJC is likely to continue for a while.