GONZALES, TX — Southern Clay Products said the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has awarded the company $78 million in a patent-infringement judgment against Süd-Chemie Inc.’s Rheologicals business unit. The case involves manufacturing processes for organoclay products.

The ruling also requires Süd-Chemie to discontinue the production, use or sale of organoclay products manufactured using the processes covered by Southern Clay Products patents. Southern Clay Products also said Süd-Chemie has been ordered to halt the manufacture of all organoclay products until it had removed process equipment affected by the ruling.

In a statement on the court decision, Süd-Chemie Inc. said it plans to appeal the judgment, adding that it has “taken all the necessary steps to initiate appeal proceedings and is confident that it will prevail in this dispute.” The statement said the company views the Southern Clay patents as being “invalid,” and said the patents have not been infringed.