USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Chemours has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Japan against Japanese chemical manufacturer AGC over the HFO refrigerant R1234yf.

The lawsuit alleges infringement of Chemours’ patents covering HFO1234yf product compositions and usage in automotive air conditioning and stationary refrigeration applications in Japan.

Chemours and Honeywell hold most or all of the patents issued for HFO-1234yf, although some of these have been disputed and remain the subject of court actions. Honeywell has also taken a number of patent infringement actions in the past year in Europe relating to R1234yf.

In a statement, Chemours says the action reaffirms its commitment to “vigorously defend” its investment in its Opteon brand low GWP refrigerants “and builds on its on-going efforts to stop the unlicensed manufacture, marketing, and sales of Opteon HFO1234yf (R1234yf) refrigerant by all legal means wherever that activity occurs around the world”.