This is a copy of an article in Plastics News dated July 1996. I found it
on the Web, so I don't think I'm violating any copyright laws by
distributing it here. The outcome of this litigation suit are important for
all of us, more so IMO than the DTM and 3D Systems suits against EOS GmbH
of Germany.
Yakov
MIDWEST, DTM SUE EACH OTHER OVER PATENT
By Lisa Sarkis Neaville
Midwest Composite Technolo-gies Inc. and DTM Corp. are feuding
in federal court over the legitimacy of a patent DTM holds for
laser-sinterable nylon 11 powders used to make three-dimensional
prototypes.
In a patent-infringement suit filed Oct. 24, DTM claimed that
Midwest knowingly used DTM's patented powder in a selective
laser sintering process without permission.
But in a countersuit launched last month, Midwest charged that
DTM's right to the patent is dubious, and that DTM and its
majority owner, BFGoodrich Co. of Bath, Ohio, are using the
patent to monopolize the niche market for SLS nylon 11 powders,
``a readily available commodity,'' according to a Midwest news
release.
Now a Milwaukee federal court must decide whether Midwest of
Hart, Wis., is infringing on the patent by buying nylon 11
powders on the open market and using them in a Sinterstation
2000 Selective Laser Sintering machine, manufactured by DTM of
Austin, Texas. Midwest said it purchased the Sinterstation from
DTM in June 1994 for $255,000.
Since 1993, DTM has been manufacturing and selling its
Sinterstation 2000 machines, which use SLS to make rapid
prototypes and tooling from a variety of materials, including
nylon and metal powders. Nylon is favored in SLS prototype
applications that require durability, thermal stability and
good chemical resistance, according to Midwest's suit.
In DTM's SLS process, also patented, a roller deposits a
material, such as nylon powder, in layers onto a cylinder bed,
and an overhead infrared laser beam traces cross-sections of the
part into the powder, layer by layer, to create a functional
prototype.
Mike Ervin, DTM's vice president of engineering and
development, said DTM's powder patent, issued Aug. 30, 1994,
covers only those nylon 11 powders used in SLS.
Midwest's lawyer, Peter N. Jansson, identified those patented
powders as Rilsan D-50 and D-80, manufactured by Elf Atochem SA
or the Paris firm's North American arm in Philadelphia.
Jansson said Midwest was being sued because it bought Rilsan
D-50 and D-80 directly from a company other than DTM, and used
the powders on DTM's SLS machine to make prototype parts.
Midwest contends that DTM packages and resells the powders at
greatly inflated prices, whereas the powders are available from
other commercial sources at a much lower cost.
Ryan Koester, project engineer for Compression Inc., a design
and engineering firm in Indianapolis, said the DTM
Sinterstations can make prototypes using nylon 11, glass-filled
nylon or fine nylon. Compression owns nine DTM Sinterstation
2000 machines and buys all its powder from DTM, he said.
Although Elf Atochem manufactures the powders, DTM is the
firm's exclusive U.S. distributor of them, Ervin said. He added
that DTM spent several years doing research and development on
various powders supplied by Elf Atochem, studying such
properties as molecular weight, temperature, particle size and
distribution, before identifying the types of nylon 11 that
worked well with its patented SLS process.
``This is a very specific material we spent time on to
develop,'' Ervin said. ``We're not trying to lock people out of
this business at all. There's a broad range of nylon powders out
there that are not covered by this [patent]. We would welcome
other companies coming in with other materials for our
machines.''
He noted that several DTM customers have received permission to
develop other materials to be used with the Sinterstation.
But Midwest's June 17 countersuit questions the validity of
DTM's patent on the nylon 11 powders, since the knowledge that
nylon 11 can be used in the SLS process predates both DTM's
Sinterstation and its patent, Jansson said by telephone from his
office in Racine, Wis. That knowledge has been a matter of
public record since 1989, according to the suit.
Midwest also alleges that when it stopped buying the SLS nylon
11 powders from DTM and began buying them elsewhere, DTM
threatened to cut off parts and service for its Sinterstation.
The lawsuit calls that act coercive, since, as Jansson put it,
Midwest was forced ``to knuckle under'' and resume buying
powders from DTM to keep its business intact.
Midwest is asking for treble damages under violations of
federal and state antitrust laws.
Tom Lee, DTM vice president of marketing, called the
countersuit ``fairly typical.''
``We don't feel that there's any basis for the claims that
they've made in their countersuit,'' he said.
At its Hart plant, Midwest does rapid tooling and prototyping
and low-volume production, mainly of reaction injection molded
housings for medical equipment, said President Helmut Keidl. The
firm, which operated for more than 15 years as Midwest
Fiberglass & Tooling Inc., recently changed its name to Midwest
Composite.
Though RIM tools are Mid-west's primary business, it also
builds tooling for other processes, including vacuum forming, he
said. The company employs 40. Keidl would not disclose sales.
=====
Yakov Horenstein Tel/Fax: +39 2 2900 6208
Milano, Italy E-mail: yakov@planet.it
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 22:37:28 EEST