Nexam’s patent application relating to a unique technology in nylon approved in the USA
04/26/2013
Nexam has received a notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) stating that it intends to grant Nexam’s US patent application relating to a new type of crosslinkable nylon. It is based on nylon that has been modified with Nexam’s technology, making it crosslinkable. This results in a marked improvement of the nylon properties.
Nylon is a general name for a variety of related plastics called polyamides. With an annual global production of about 3 million tonnes, equivalent to sales of about USD 12 billion, nylon is one of the most common engineering plastics. There are many usage areas for nylon. Applications areas include e.g. components to the transport, automotive and electronics industries.
The properties of nylon can be dramatically improved with Nexam’s technology and products for crosslinking. The longevity of the material increases, while properties such as heat and chemical resistance increase. This means that after modification using Nexam’s products, nylon can be used to replace e.g. metals and more expensive plastics in a range of products and components.
Currently Nexam’s technology and products to crosslink nylon is being evaluated by more than ten potential customers (e.g. BASF), many of which are world-leaders in their respective fields, in areas such as transport & automotive, electrical components, and a variety of consumer products.
The granting of this patent will strengthen the protection of future and more specific patents being applied for currently, concerning products that Nexam has developed in recent years, including a patent application on a product that e.g. BASF currently is evaluating.
“Our mission is to improve the properties of conventional plastics. We make ordinary plastics better. The goal is to be able to offer cost-effective alternatives to metals and other more advanced and more expensive materials. Underlying our technology and products is an extensive research and development program. An important part of our work is to continuously and pro-actively protect the results of our work. The granted patent, which gives Nexam protection of its technology in nylon, will therefore be of great importance to us in the coming commercialization phase”, says Per Palmqvist Morin, CEO.
Nexam currently has 28 patent applications within 10 patent families.
For more information on Nexam’s technology, please go to http://www.nexam.se/Technology/.
Note: This press release has been translated from Swedish. The Swedish text shall govern for all purposes and prevail in case of any discrepancy with the English version.