Alpha Assembly Solutions (a legal entity of MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions), Heraeus Electronics, and Henkel have successfully concluded the patent dispute against Senju Group (Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd., Senju Metal Europe GmbH and Senju Manufacturing Europe S.R.O.) relating to the infringement of the patent EP 1 617 968 B1 in Germany by the M794 solder alloy material. In the dispute, Alpha Assembly Solutions, Heraeus, and Henkel succeeded in both patent infringement proceedings and related patent nullity proceedings.
After Senju withdrew their appeal to the German Federal Court of Justice on January 17, 2025, the Federal Patent Court’s judgment of August 31, 2023, which upheld the patent-in-suit with certain restrictions, has now become final.
Previously, the District Court Frankfurt had rendered a judgment in the patent infringement proceedings on April 3, 2024, confirming Senju´s infringement of the patent EP 1 617 968 B1 in Germany by the M794 solder alloy material. This decision has also become final, after Senju withdrew their appeal to the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt on July 3, 2024.
The infringement judgment had granted motions for declaration of liability for damages, injunction, and the recall of infringing products, namely Senju’s M794 solder material from its industrial customers in Germany.
EP 1 617 968 B1 has lapsed in the meantime but has an active counterpart in the US (patent no.: US 10,376,994 B2).
The judgments in both proceedings are now legally binding. They reinforce the significance of intellectual property protection in the electronics assembly industry and uphold the commitment of the plaintiffs to defend their innovative materials.
The patentees sell solder alloy formulation, marketed under the brand names Innolot® (MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions and Heraeus Electronics) and Multicore 90ISC (Harima Chemicals Group, formerly Loctite® 90ISC Henkel), representing a breakthrough in lead-free solder technology. Developed through a cooperative project, these materials offer improved reliability performance, particularly in harsh environment electronics applications. They are designed to withstand high temperatures while remaining solderable at standard lead-free process temperatures, making them ideal for automotive applications and other demanding environments.
