In April 2022, Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Satoshi Yamaguchi) concluded a patent license agreement and reached a settlement with a competitor in Germany. The agreement relates to Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc.’s European Patent No. 2024300.

This patent protects a method for manufacturing layered ceramics. Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc. was convinced that the competitor infringed on the patent with multi-layered zirconia discs manufactured by the competitor and, in August 2019, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the competitor with the Düsseldorf District Court, Germany.

During this period, the competitor filed a nullity action against the patent with the German Federal Patent Court. However, with the June 2021 judgment, the court dismissed the nullity action and thereby confirmed the validity of the patent in its entirety. The judgment is final.

Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc. believes its intellectual property rights are important management resources. Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc. makes it clear that if it finds that its intellectual property rights have been infringed upon, it is committed to handling the matter by appealing for strict application of the relevant laws.

For more information about Kuraray Noritake, visit the website at https://www.kuraraynoritake.com/

Overview of Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc.
Company name: Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc.
Head Office: Tokiwabashi Tower, 2-6-4, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0004, Japan (Relocated Head Office on July 20, 2021)
Representative: Satoshi Yamaguchi, President
Capital: 300 million yen (66.7% by Kuraray Co., Ltd. and 33.3% by Noritake Company Limited)
Established: October 1, 2001 (The company was established as Kuraray Medical Inc. in 2001, and the name was changed to the current name in 2012.)
Line of business: Dental adhesives and filling materials, dental crown and bridge resin, dental ceramics, dental plaster, dental CAD/CAM devices and materials