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Article: Film role for a premium polymer.(technology focus: MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)(Imperial Chemical Industries PLC's Victrex PLC )
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- September 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A company that supplies a single, patented material has a measure Of protection. No one else can offer quite the same thing--until the patent runs out. Then anyone anywhere in the world is free to offer a competing version of the product. It's the situation that Victrex PLC faced.
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The origin of the company dates back more than 25 years, when it was formed by Imperial Chemical Industries to market a patented polymer, polyetheretherketone, which is more easily remembered as PEEK. It is a premium-priced, high-performance thermoplastic, with exceptional wear and heat resistance.
In 1993, a management team that includes the ...