Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) hereby announces that Otsuka has obtained a favorable decision in a patent infringement action against Daicel Corporation (hereinafter "Daicel") and Advanced Medical Care Inc. (hereinafter "AMC").

As announced in the news release dated February 10, 2022, entitled 'Favorable Judgment on Lawsuit on Patent Right Held in Relation to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Foods Containing Equol', Otsuka obtained a favorable judgment from the Intellectual Property High Court on February 9, 2022 in a patent infringement lawsuit against Daicel and AMC. In response to this judgment, Daicel and AMC filed a final appeal and a petition for acceptance of final appeal with the Supreme Court, but these have both been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

With respect to Otsuka's patent right for Equol-containing foods (Patent Registration No. 6275313; Title of Invention: Equol-containing extract and method for producing the same, equol extraction method, and food containing equol; hereinafter the "Patent Right"), Otsuka filed a patent infringement action arguing that Daicel's act of manufacturing and selling "Flavocell EQ-5", and AMC's act of manufacturing and selling "Equol + Lactobionic Acid" using "Flavocell EQ-5" as a raw material infringed their patent.

In this case, although the Tokyo District Court, the court of first instance, rendered a judgment dismissing Otsuka's claims on September 17, 2020, the Intellectual Property High Court, the court of second instance, overturned the judgment of the first instance and ruled in favor of Otsuka(*1) on February 9, 2022. The Supreme Court, the court of final appellate instance, dismissed the final appeal and refused to hear the case in its decisions dated November 11, 2022, and the decision of the Intellectual Property High Court, which found that a patent infringement had occurred and granted injunctions against the infringing parties, has thereby become final and binding (*2).

Thus, Daicel is prohibited from manufacturing and selling "Flavocell EQ-5", and AMC is prohibited from manufacturing and selling "Equol + Lactobionic Acid" using "Flavocell EQ-5" as a raw material.

Otsuka has filed multiple patent infringement actions seeking damages on the ground of infringement of the Patent Right by "Flavocell EQ-5" and supplement products using Flavocell EQ-5, which are now pending before the Tokyo District Court.
Otsuka will continue to vigorously defend and protect its inventions in relevant fields of technology, and provide safeand high-quality products and information to support people's health based on scientific evidence.