UPL ordered to pay $31 mn to US-based AgroFresh in patent infringement case

UPL said in a statement it's disappointed in the verdict and will appeal

Indian chemical giant UPL Ltd. was defeated in court Friday by a small Philadelphia agrotech company that sued it for stealing its main trade secret — and the expert it hired to develop it.

A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware, told UPL and its Decco unit to pay AgroFresh Solutions Inc. $31 million partly for infringing its patent on a technology that keeps apples fresh in storage after harvest. The award was less than a tenth of the $346.2 million AgroFresh had asked for.

AgroFresh is “pleased” with the verdict and “will petition the court for an award of up to three