Maschinenfabrik Sürth in 1920, when
it was acquired by the Linde Company. |
The sensational method of air separation naturally attracted competitors and hangers-on to the scene, which in some cases led to drawn-out legal disputes. The first encounter in a court of law took place in England in 1907 between the Linde patent-holder British Oxygen Co. and the French company Air Liquide. British Oxygen Co. won in all three instances. Soon thereafter Linde and Air Liquide came to an agreement on joint market exploitation. |
In 1908 the Linde Company also came to an agreement with the German user of the Air Liquide patents, the chemical company Griesheim-Elektron, on dividing up the German industrial gas market.
Von Linde also pursued patent infringement complaints against Prof. Raoul Pictet and his German patent user Sauerstoff-Industrie AG In a settlement, Sauerstoff-Industrie AG agreed to discontinue the sale of oxygen machines and oxygen in Germany. Three years later, all of that company’s activities were merged with Linde and Griesheim-Elektron.
Starting in 1908, von Linde was involved in a dispute for many years against Nürnberglicht, which had far-reaching effects on the later development of the Linde Company. This company had copied an oxygen machine built by Linde and was doing a booming business with the stolen design.
The competitor was able to draw out von Linde’s case by constantly changing its ownership and partnership configurations until Linde’s patent rights had expired. Finally, in 1916 Linde and Griesheim-Elektron took over the company, which by that time was doing business as a corporation under the name Deutsche Oxydric (DOAG), and its assets were divided between the two buyers in 1920. In the process, the Linde Company somewhat accidentally acquired its first production subsidiary: Maschinenfabrik Sürth (see chapter " Milestones ").