(January 21, 2009) According to MSNBC, Judge Robert Smith of the Mobile (Alabama) County Circuit has upheld a $192M jury verdict against chemical companies Ineos Americas LLC and Germany-based Ineos Phenol. The lawsuit was filed in 2006 by chemist Sven Peter Mannsfeld, now 72, a German immigrant who worked at Degussa Corp. for 30 years. Mannsfeld claimed that Ineos stole his hazardous waste recycling idea and patented it as their own -- an allegation that was satisfactorily proven in court.
Ineos has 42 days from the date of the Mobile court's order to appeal the decision, and they will almost certainly do so. The $192 million includes $25 million in "historic" damages and $167 million in future damages through 2025.