DyStar has been successful in securing the destruction of 3.3 tons of textile dyes that infringed one of its patents for reactive red dyes.
The dyes were detained at Mersin Free Zones following DyStar’s customs application. The specialized Istanbul IP Court subsequently granted a preliminary injunction order. The destruction took place earlier than expected on September 18th, 2018 as the defendant agreed to the destruction and payment of compensation to DyStar before the final verdict of the Court.
DyStar has implemented an anti-counterfeiting program worldwide since 2013. Turkey has rapidly become one of the most successful jurisdictions in implementing the program. As part of the enforcement program, DyStar recorded its patents with Turkish Customs, carried out training, analyzed each of the seized product samples promptly and took action over each infringing product by initiating court proceedings where there was no settlement. Thanks to these actions, DyStar has secured the seizure of more than 100 tons of infringing product in Turkey.
Based on this effective program, 50 custom suspension notifications were notified from 4 customs administrations. DyStar filed 14 court actions for infringement of its patents. A total of 7 nullity actions against its asserted patents were received as counter-attacks, and 5 of these cases have already been finalized – all in favor of DyStar.
Within this program, more than 100 informative or warning letters regarding DyStar’s patents have been sent to customers and target companies to build awareness in the market.
In 2017, DyStar and its attorneys at Deris were invited to present the program as an example of best practice in a conference held within the context of the EU–Turkish Ministry project aimed to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Turkish Customs Administration.
The Director Global IP of DyStar, Dr. Ulrich Weingarten, stated that this case highlights the conviction of DyStar to clamp down on every infringer, saying, “We are a global leader in developing and providing new products, which are both cost efficient and environmentally friendly. Therefore, some companies try to copy our products. However, this turns out to be a costly approach for them with the products being destroyed and compensation paid. This is thanks to our close surveillance of the markets and the excellent cooperation with our legal advisors at Deris and the Turkish authorities.”