A local company linked to Alies Anor Abdul, a former political secretary to Najib Abdul Razak when he was deputy prime minister, was found to have violated a patent for cargo imaging owned by a China-based company.

The two high-resolution x-ray machines to scan cargo trucks are placed at the Bukit Chagar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facility.

The verdict was made by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last month, in favour of China-based Nuctech Company Ltd against Pan Asiatic Technologies Sdn Bhd (PAT) and its three directors including Alies ( right ).

PAT is also contracted to install two other similar cargo scanners for the Royal Customs Department, which Nuctech is also trying to stop by gaining an injunction.

Justice Azizah Nawawi, who delivered the verdict, agreed with Nuctech that Patent 862 for a ‘System for Image Inspection of a movable object and dodging method’, where two machines installed by PAT for the Royal Customs Department in Bukit Chagar, had violated the patent.

“I find the BT Scan System (installed by PAT) has infringed Claim 1, Claim 7 and Claim 8 of Patent 862. I also found the BT Scan also infringed Claim 9, 11, and 12,” she said.

The Claim 1, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 are the various technology installed by Nuctech in its patent found to be similar with the BT Scan machines.

Justice Azizah also dismissed a counter-claim brought by PAT and Nuctech’s rival, Chinese company Powerscan Co Ltd, who allegedly supplied the equipment to PAT.

The equipment was brought in by PAT through Powerscan, said to be Nuctech’s rival, consisting of Nuctech’s former employees.

Nuctech named PAT, and three of its directors including Alies as defendants, while in turn PAT and Powerscan named Nuctech and its joint partner Tsinghua University in their counter-claim.

Following the decision, Justice Azizah ordered PAT to pay a global sum of RM150,000 in costs to Nuctech.

In addition, the court also ordered Powerscan to pay a global sum of RM150,000 in costs to Nuctech.

Other damages to be assessed by SAR

Justice Azizah also ordered that damages or an assessment on account of profit to be made before the court’s senior assistant registrar (SAR).

Although the judgment was made last month, the grounds of the decision was only obtained recently.

Nuctech filed the complaint in court in 2013 following the discovery that PAT had installed the machines from its rival company, and proceedings only began here late last year.

It was previously reported that Nuctech was involved in the copyright tussle following the discovery that its former partner PAT, which helped installed several of Nuctech machines here, had taken in equipment from a rival company.

PAT entered into an agreement with the Malaysian government on April 30, 2013 to provide four scanners, for which Nuctech claimed that the technology provided by Powerscan is similar or identical to the infringing system Patent 862.

Nuctech claimed that it applied to have the system patented in 2006 and was granted the patent on Jan 14, 2011. The company also filed a similar lawsuit against Powerscan and its affiliate Beijing Energy Detection Inc.

Nuctech was seeking an order that the defendants had delivered the infringing system to the Customs Department, an inquiry of the damages suffered as well as aggravated and exemplary damages.

A witness for Nuctech testified in court last year that the company had been selling its scanners in 130 countries and had more than 1,000 technological items patented in China and internationally.