KUMIAI achieves success in Pyroxasulfone patent enforcement in China and takes more actions in Australia

Date:12-04-2024

Recently, it was reported on the official website of KUMIAI Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. ("KUMIAI")—one of the world's leading agrochemical companies—that the company has successfully reached a settlement with a Chinese company. Under the terms of KUMIAI's Chinese Patent ZL200580010635.9 ("Process for producing 5-hydroxy-4-thiomethylpyrazole compound"), this Chinese company and its affiliated companies will not produce or sell certain key intermediate compounds used to manufacture KUMIAI's innovative herbicide pyroxasulfone in China and will not practice this patent until it expires.

As a renowned agrochemical company with over 70 years of experience in herbicide production, KUMIAI developed a new broad-spectrum, highly active pre-emergence soil treatment agent—pyroxasulfone (an isoxazole herbicide). Since its initial launch in Australia in 2011 as a pre-emergence soil treatment for wheat, pyroxasulfone has been sold in multiple countries worldwide and has earned the trust of farmers globally.

In the settlement, the Chinese company agreed that it and its affiliated companies will respect KUMIAI's intellectual property rights and commit not to practice any of KUMIAI's Chinese patents related to the pyroxasulfone product without explicit permission from KUMIAI. Additionally, the Chinese company has agreed to pay an agreed amount to KUMIAI as costs of the proceedings.

In addition to actively using legal measures in mainland China to protect its intellectual property rights and the interests of its consumers, KUMIAI has also filed relevant patent infringement lawsuits in other countries and regions worldwide. According to reports, on November 12th, KUMIAI filed separate patent infringement lawsuits in Australia against three local companies (English announcement: 

https://ir.KUMIAI-chem.co.jp/en/newsrelease/newsrelease-202411151/main/0/link/1115.en-1.pdf; 

https://ir.KUMIAI-chem.co.jp/en/newsrelease/newsrelease-202411152/main/0/link/1115.en-2.pdf; 

https://ir.KUMIAI-chem.co.jp/en/newsrelease/newsrelease-202411153/main/0/link/1115.en-3.pdf) 

for distributing and selling herbicide products containing the active ingredient pyroxasulfone. Currently, the cases are under trial.This year, KUMIAI has filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits in Australia regarding products containing pyroxasulfone, some of which have been favorably resolved through settlements.

Recently, KUMIAI has frequently undertaken large-scale patent enforcement actions worldwide regarding pyroxasulfone products and has achieved satisfactory results. KUMIAI holds a global patent portfolio that includes, but is not limited to, patents related to the active ingredients, intermediates, and manufacturing processes of pyroxasulfone herbicides in various countries and regions.

If agrochemical companies do not respect others' intellectual property rights, they are very likely to face significant risks of intellectual property infringement. According to the patent laws of most countries, KUMIAI has the right, based on valid patent rights, to require infringers to cease manufacturing, selling (including exporting), offering for sale, licensing, using, or importing any infringing products through local courts or relevant law enforcement agencies, and to demand compensation.