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History
1951
Nylon technology licensing agreement concluded with E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont, of the U.S.).
We started production of Nylon 6 with Toray's own technology. The fiber's manufacturing method and properties differed from those of DuPont's Nylon 66, but there was potential for conflict with peripheral patents, and Toray management thought it would be best to eliminate anxieties about the future by forming a technical tie-up with DuPont. A nylon technology licensing agreement was concluded between the two companies on June 11, 1951. The contract stipulated a royalty of 3% of sales, and a prepayment of $3 million (¥1.08 billion), which corresponded to about 1.5 times Toray's capitalization at that time of ¥750 million. Prior to this technical tie-up, it was decided to carry out lactam raw material production and nylon polymerization at the Nagoya Plant, and to conduct fiber production at the Aichi Plant. The first spinning was performed in February of that year. Before the tie-up, Toray had designed a process based on independent technology which did not conflict with DuPont's patents. However, after the agreement was signed, Toray changed direction and actively incorporated DuPont's technology.