France's Schneider loses China patent case-Xinhua

SHANGHAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - France's Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost a patent infringement lawsuit in China on Saturday and was ordered to pay 335 million yuan ($44.7 million) in damages, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The suit was brought in the eastern city of Wenzhou by Chint Group, China's biggest maker of low-voltage electrical products. It accused the French electrical engineering group of selling products based on Chint's technology.

The damages, corresponding to the profit which Schneider was estimated to have earned by selling the products between August 2004 and July 2006, is believed to be the largest in a Chinese intellectual property dispute, Xinhua said.

Commenting on the case in April, a Schneider spokeswoman said her company believed it was fully entitled to use the technology and disputed the validity of Chint's Chinese patent.

($1 = 7.50 yuan)

((Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Peter Blackburn, andrew.torchia@reuters.com; (8621) 6104-1761)) Keywords: CHINA SCHNEIDER

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