Legal actions taken by Corning Inc. (Corning, NY) this spring for alleged patent infringement

Legal actions taken by Corning Inc. (Corning, NY) this spring for alleged patent infringement against Plasma Optical Fibre BV (POF--Eindhoven, Netherlands) and its affiliates, Chromatic Technologies Inc. (Franklin, MA) and Yangtze Technologies (Wuhan, China), have been resolved. The parties reached a settlement agreement that will result in the issue of consent orders by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom, respectively. Both sides claimed victory in the dispute. Corning expressed satisfaction that the validity of its patent was upheld and says the consent orders will prevent the defendants from importing fiber made using Corning`s patented processes into the United States and the United Kingdom. POF, Yangtze, and Chromatic, all operating companies of Draka Holding NV (Amsterdam), vigorously denied any wrongdoing and presented POF`s own intellectual property rights on the relevant technology during the dispute. Draka says that because the companies are using their own processes to make optical fibers for the U.S. market, they will continue to be able to supply fiber to their customers in the United States, "notwithstanding the consent order." Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.