Ineos sues Sinopec for technology patent breach

Spanish Market: Petrochemicals
21/03/14

Ineos is taking legal action against China’s state-owned Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in Asia, for breach of the European petrochemicals group’s intellectual property rights.

Ineos, which filed the claim at a high court in Beijing and an arbitration body in Sweden, is suing Sinopec for "misuse of trade secrets" in its $3bn acrylonitrile (ACN) business.

Ineos alleged that Sinopec, including units Sinopec Ningbo Engineering (SNEC) and Sinopec Anqing, used its technology in producing ACN without its consent.

Chairman Jim Ratcliffe said the "prolific building of acrylonitrile copy plants in China" will harm its business.

"The fundamental value of Ineos depends upon its technology. We have no option but to defend our hard-won intellectual property," he said.

Ineos has a long-term agreement with SNEC for the licensing and use of its ACN technology in China dating back to 1984.

Ineos’ ACN business, the largest in the world, generates annual profits of around $500mn and produces from four major sites – Green Lake in Texas, Lima in Ohio, Seal Sands in the UK, and Cologne in Germany.

Ineos has been aggressively expanding in the fast-growing Chinese market over the past years as key markets in Europe and the US slow down. Two of its major projects include the 260,000 t/yr ACN joint-venture with Tianjin Bohai and the 1.2 mn t/yr cumene, phenol and acetone joint venture project with Sinopec.

Sinopec Anqing built a new 130,000 t/yr ACN plant in the Anhui province, which also hosts an existing 80,000 t/yr ACN plant and a downstream 70,000 t/yr acrylic fiber plant. The new unit was brought on stream in early 2013.

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Ineos sues Sinopec for technology patent breach

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