WILMINGTON, DE - The Dow Chemical Co. (Dow), Midland, MI, is being sued by paint and coatings manufacturer Akzo Nobel NV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A lawsuit filed on June 25 in Delaware Chancery Court, Wilmington, DE, contends that Dow misused confidential information from AkzoNobel to apply for coatings technology patents.
According to a report in “The Detroit News,” Dow entered into a joint development agreement in 2010 with the U.S. unit of AkzoNobel and then ended the agreement the following year. In 2012, the suit alleges, Dow said it would file the patent applications without Akzo’s permission.