Luxembourg-based supplier Element Six Technologies released a statement on 12 January announcing it had initiated legal action against IIa Technologies to “defend its intellectual property rights and business interests”.
Singaporean company IIa Technologies was founded in 2005 and claims to be the “industry leader in grown diamond technology”. It is part of IIa Holdings Group, which also owns US-based lab-created loose diamond and diamond jewellery supplier Pure Grown Diamonds – formally known as Gemesis.
Singaporean company IIa Technologies was founded in 2005 and claims to be the “industry leader in grown diamond technology”. It is part of IIa Holdings Group, which also owns US-based lab-created loose diamond and diamond jewellery supplier Pure Grown Diamonds – formally known as Gemesis.
Element Six alleged that IIa Technologies had infringed upon its Singapore patents 115872 and 110508 for proprietary synthetic diamond products and their method of manufacture.
“The patents in question relate to production of material which has a combination of high-optical transparency in the visible and infrared spectral regions and low-crystalline stress, which is desirable in optical applications such as infrared spectroscopy and high-power laser optics,” the statement explained, adding that IIa Technologies was believed to be potentially exploiting the patents in both the industrial and jewellery sectors.
“Any use of Element Six patents, without its consent, negatively impacts its ability to get a full return from its investment and undermines its ability to carry out further important research and development.”
Element Six chief executive Walter Hühn described the situation as “a straightforward case of patent infringement”.
“Synthetic diamond material can be – and is – produced without infringing our patent,” he said. “…Element Six is taking action to defend its position. To continue to be able to invest in research and development, we depend on our ability to protect the intellectual property resulting from this research, development and innovation.”
Jeweller contacted IIa Technologies for comment but the company had not responded at the time of publication.
Element Six, which is majority owned by De Beers Group and operates worldwide, designs, develops and produces synthetic diamond material for industrial applications, such as cutting, grinding, drilling, shearing and polishing.
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