Patent decision

A Welsh company has had a patent infringement against Corus upheld by the Court of Appeal, which ruled that Corus infringed a patent held by Qual-Chem.

The patent is for a manufacturing process that Corus employed to cut costs and improve the quality of steel production at its Port Talbot plant.

The Welsh company told the court that it had all its contracts cancelled in 2002 after Corus made it transfer the technology to a different supplier. As a result, Qual-Chem’s owner, Keith Harris, was forced to close the business.

The ruling has left Corus with the liability to pay a substantial compensation to Keith Harris, in addition to a legal bill in excess of £1m.