US dismissed FMC's complaint on sulfentrazone infringement

The U.S. International Trade Commission recently announced to maintain its final initial determination of April 10,2015 finding no violation of section 337 and dismissed FMC's complaint on sulfentrazone infringement. The investigation is terminated.

The Commission instituted this investigation on April 14, 2014, based on a complaint filed by FMC Corporation (“FMC”) on March 5, 2014. FMC alleged the violation of Section 337 by Summit Agro USA, LLC, Summit Agro North America, Holding Corporation, Nutrichem Co., Ltd., and Jiangxi Heyi Chemicals Co., Ltd. in the importation into the U.S., sale for importation, or sale after importation of certain sulfentrazone, sulfentrazone compositions, and processes for making sulfentrazone that infringe one or more claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,169,952 (the '952 patent).

On April 10, 2015, the administrative law judge (ALJ) issued her final initial determination (ID) finding no violation of section 337. She found that, under her claim constructions, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the respondents infringed the asserted claims or that FMC satisfied either the technical prong or the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement. She further found that the respondents showed by clear and convincing evidence that the asserted claims of the 952 patent are invalid under 35 U.S.C. 102(g).