Fenix Defeats WD in Synthetics Lawsuit

RAPAPORT… A US judge has thrown out WD Lab Grown Diamonds’ lawsuit against a rival synthetics brand that the company had accused of violating its patents.

Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled in favor of Fenix Diamonds earlier this month, concluding that WD had not provided evidence of any infringement. He granted Fenix’s motion for summary judgement, meaning there will be no trial.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington, a science organization, and M7D Corporation, which trades as WD Lab Grown Diamonds, sued Fenix last year, alleging it had imported and sold goods that another party, Nouveau Diamonds, had produced using patented methods.

One of the patents related to a growth method that creates an especially pure synthetic diamond. However, differences between WD’s and Nouveau’s methods were “readily apparent” from an affidavit by two Nouveau executives in which they describe the company’s growth process, the ruling said.

Meanwhile, WD has withdrawn its claims that Fenix infringed on a second patent governing a post-growth color treatment called annealing, the judge added.

WD declined to comment.


Image: A 9.04-carat round brilliant produced by WD Lab Grown Diamonds in 2018 using chemical vapor deposition. (WD Lab Grown Diamonds)