Fenix and Nouveau were part of a larger suit filed last year by WD Lab Grown Diamonds and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, which alleged six competitors had infringed two of Carnegie’s patents.
The first patent covers the microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond-growing process, and the second relates to the high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) process – also called annealing – that improves a lab-grown diamond’s colour and clarity.
WD and Carnegie dropped the claim against ALTR and its parent company RA Riam and settled with Pure Grown Diamonds and IIa Technologies last year, leaving Fenix – which supplies lab-created diamonds to Michael Hill International – and Nouveau as the last remaining defendants in the case.
On 16 June 2021, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld Fenix’s motion for a summary judgment, noting “readily apparent” differences between Nouveau’s diamond manufacturing and the first Carnegie patent, including the temperatures used.
WD and Carnegie withdrew the second infringement claim, with Fenix filing a counterclaim to have the patent invalidated. Rakoff’s judgment permitted the counterclaim to proceed to trial.
Fenix said in a statement that its “success in the lawsuit reflects our devotion to the market, to our products, and, especially, to our customers. Their support over the past 18 months has been incredible.”
WD had, at the time of publication, declined to comment on the ruling.
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Lab-grown diamond companies settle patent dispute
Lab-grown diamond companies in conflict over patents