Annually, Asia IP analyzes the top cases of the previous year, and chooses the landmark intellectual property cases of the region by surveying lawyers and carrying out extensive research. They provide a compilation of some of the most interesting and most important IP cases of the year.
This year, two cases handled by lawyers at Tilleke & Gibbins were honored with “Case of the Year” status for Thailand. In the first case, the team won a historic judgment in a trade secrets case on behalf of Magnequench (Korat), a local subsidiary of NEO Materials Technologies and Magnequench International, against a competitor company, International Magnetics. The issue surrounded an infringement of Magnequench’s technology for the production of Nd-Fe-B magnetic powder. In the decision, Magnequench was awarded an injunction against the use and disclosure of trade secret technologies, as well as substantial damages. The case was the first in which a trade secret owner has successfully enforced against trade secret misappropriation in Thailand. It also represented the largest amount of damages, THB 52.1 million, ever awarded by Thailand’s Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. Finally, it was the first case awarding all of the defendant’s infringing machinery, equipment, information, and products to the plaintiff.
In the second case, the Tilleke & Gibbins team obtained a settlement, through mediation, for Seiko Epson in a dispute against a Thai distributor of compatible ink cartridges that infringed Epson’s patents. The case was also concluded in just a year, in an amicable way, and key benefits were obtained for Seiko. Furthermore, as a third successful outcome for Epson, the case created greater awareness for consumers, while the market has seen a significant decline in the production of infringing ink cartridges in Thailand.
Tilleke & Gibbins is proud to work with innovative, market-leading companies like Magnequench and Epson. To learn more about our IP services and our achievements on behalf of our clients, please read about our intellectual property practice.