Dearborn, Michigan-based Severstal North America announced Monday that the jury award it had won in a patent infringement case brought by ArcelorMittal concerning aluminum-coated, boron-bearing carob steel with specific chemistries and properties, has been held up by the judge in the trial. The trial judge ruled that the jury had sufficient facts to find ArcelorMittal's patent (US Patent 6,296,805) invalid and not infringed by Severstal's commercial activity. Additionally, the judge decided that there was no reason for a new trial because there were no errors in the trial proceedings.
Severstal also said that in a separate, but technologically-related matter, Severstal continues to successfully achieve favorable decisions in a patent reexamination proceeding before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) brought by Severstal regarding United States Patent 6564,604, owned by ArcelorMittal. The patent concerns some of the technology used in the production of aluminum-coated, boron-bearing carbon steel, the end use for which is predominantly in high-strength automotive applications.
Earlier in the year, the USPTO affirmed its previous ruling and has now held that all of the claims of the ArcelorMittal patent are unpatentable for multiple reasons. ArcelorMittal has amended these claims and added new ones, but Severstal said that it is confident these claims will also fail. In anticipation of this decision, Severstal indicated that it has already developed the necessary expertise to provide the aluminum coated boron-bearing carbon steel per the requirements of the automotive manufacturers.