Major suppliers file joint patent infringement lawsuit

29th April 2020

Alex Lynn

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Three major suppliers in electronics assembly materials, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, Henkel, and Heraeus, jointly filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Senju Metal Industry, Senju Metal Europe and Senju Manufacturing Europe in the district court Frankfurt.

In their complaint the companies allege that the Senju Group infringes a patent held by MacDermid Alpha, Henkel and Heraeus related to a solder alloy formulation marketed under the brand names Innolot (MacDermid Alpha and Heraeus) and Loctite 90ISC (Henkel). The companies consider that the Senju Group infringes the patent EP 1 617 968 B1 by advertising and selling the solder alloy M794 to customers in Germany.

By filing this lawsuit, the companies jointly demonstrate their strong commitment to the development of innovative materials for electronics assembly by defending their intellectual property assets.

MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, Henkel, and Heraeus currently hold joint patents in the US (US10376994B2), Europe (EP1617968B1) and Japan (JP5320556B2).

The formulation was developed in a cooperative project to produce a lead-free solder alloy specifically for harsh environment electronics applications. The resulting products provide an improved reliability performance, compared to standard SAC alloys.

The materials are designed to tolerate the demands of high-temperature applications while still being solderable at standard lead-free process temperatures, making them well suited for automotive applications.