Content |
History
2025
Rusnano sued MCD Technologies for patents for carbon nanotubes for electronics
In October 2025, the Presidium of the Court of Intellectual Rights rejected cassation appeals against the decision of the first instance, finally securing Russia's rights to patents in the field of carbon nanotube technology. Previously, intellectual property belonged to the Luxembourg company MCD Technologies S.à r.l. The court decision is published in the file of arbitration cases.
The controversial assets were patents No. 2458859 "Method of producing carbon nanotubes and reactor," No. 2478575 "Method of producing carbon nanostructures and apparatus" and No. 2552177 "Hollow carbon nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterial and method of producing it."
Cassation complaints were filed by MCD Technologies S.à r.l., the Novosibirsk company Universal Additives (owned by Luxembourg OCSiAl), co-authors of the development academician Mikhail Predtechensky and Oleg Tukhto. Ilya Koval's complaint was rejected due to the omission of the procedural period.
According to CNews, the technology of carbon nanotubes used in the production of batteries and high-tech electronics due to its high electrical conductivity was created in 2010 by a team of Novosibirsk scientists: Mikhail Predtechensky, Yuri Koropachinsky, Oleg Kirillov and Yuri Zelvensky.
Development financing was carried out with the participation of Rusnano. To commercialize the project, the corporation, together with private investors, established OCSiAl in Luxembourg.
In 2014, Rusnano Corporation invested $20 million in OCSiAl, receiving Eurobonds worth $40 million. In 2023, the corporation's stake in OCSiAl (17.3%) was arrested by a Luxembourg court.
In April 2024, Dmitry Tarasov, deputy general director of Rusnano, told TASS that the withdrawal of production assets and R&D divisions outside Russia deprived the country of a unique product. After the transfer of capacities, the Universal Additives company tried to conduct production on the premises in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, but it was stopped.
According to TASS, in 2022 OCSiAl accounted for about 90% of the global market for single-wall carbon nanotubes. At the end of 2024, the company opened an enterprise with a capacity of 60 tons per year in Serbia, and by 2028-2030 announced the launch of production in Luxembourg.[1]
Transfer of patents for carbon nanotubes to Russia
In mid-October 2025, the Intellectual Property Court handed over to Russia patents of the European company MCD Technologies S.A.R.L. related to carbon nanotubes. The decision was made at the suit of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
According to TASS, MCD Technologies owned a patent for the method of synthesis of carbon nanotubes, which is implemented by the Oxial company (OCSiAl), as well as the Oxial trademark. This company was founded in 2010 in Novosibirsk by physicist Mikhail Predtechensky and businessmen Yuri Koropachinsky, Oleg Kirillov and Yuri Zelvensky. OCSiAl is the world's largest producer of single-wall carbon nanotubes. Their introduction allows you to improve the properties of the material or give it new characteristics. In 2022, the company accounted for about 90% of the global market for related products. OCSiAl is headquartered in Luxembourg as of 2025.
The Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation sent a lawsuit to the intellectual property rights court against MCD Technologies in October 2024. The Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Thermophysics named after S. S. Kutateladze of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Mikhail Predtechensky, Rusnano, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, etc. Dmitry Tarasov, Deputy General Director, Member of the Board of the Rusnano Group, previously stated that due to the withdrawal of Oxial's production assets and intellectual property abroad, Russia lost a unique product. Shareholders of the company, according to Tarasov, "carefully avoid communication with Russia, trying to restart production abroad at Russian mental and material and technical bases."
As a result, having considered the plaintiffs' arguments, the intellectual property rights court invalidated the indication of MCD Technologies by the patent holder of the inventions in question. In accordance with the decree, the only patent holder is the Russian Federation.[2]
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation filed a lawsuit demanding to turn assets into state income
In January 2025, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court of the Tambov Region against MCD Technologies, a company registered in Luxembourg. According to the judicial file cabinet, the prosecutor's office also proposes to bring an intellectual property court. The reasons for the claims were not disclosed, but, according to RBC, in such cases they often require the assets of companies to be turned into state revenue due to violations in the privatization process of the 1990s. MCD Technologies is the global leader in the production of graphene nanotubes.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Three patents for nanotubes used in electronics were taken from the Luxembourg company in favor of the Russian state
- ↑ The court decided to transfer to the Russian Federation patents of a foreign company for carbon nanotubes
- ↑ The Prosecutor General's Office filed a new lawsuit against the creator of the first "unicorn" "Rusnano"
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |