PHOENIX -- An Arizona jury this week said TUC Technology Corp. owes Isola USA more than $11 million in damages for willfully violating multiple patents for printed circuit board materials.

In a unanimous verdict, the jury also determined that Isola's patents were valid and did not violate existing patents held by a third party, striking an important counterclaim TUC was asserting.

In the latest chapter of a suit launched in June 2012, TUC was found to have directly infringed Isola patent no. 6,509,414, and to have induced others to infringe the patent as well.

TUC, also known as Taiwan Union Technology, asserted in its counterclaim that the Isola patent no. 6,509,414 was invalid for failure to meet the written description requirement. It also claimed that Isola patent 8,022,140 was invalid as it was anticipated by Nelco N4000-13.

The jury disagreed on both counts, however, and awarded Isola $8.5 million in lost profits and $3 million in royalties.

The '414 patent, as granted in 2003, describes a prepreg comprising FR-4 epoxy resin advanced with TBBPA and other optional crosslinking materials. The '140 patent, which was issued in 2011, describes a prepreg comprising an epoxy resin, a first cross-linking agent of a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer and a second co-cross-linking agent.

The products found to infringe were TUC’s TU-872 laminate and prepreg products.

The parties have been embroiled in litigation for years over claims of patent infringement. In early 2013, they signed an agreement to end a long-running dispute over use of talc fillers in printed circuit board laminates,  

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