Commitments and Contingencies
Legal Proceedings
On July 19, 2018, we filed suit against BASF Corporation ("BASF") in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the "Delaware Proceeding") alleging BASF infringed Ingevity's patent covering canister systems used in the control of automotive gasoline vapor emissions (U.S. Patent No. RE38,844) (the "844 Patent"). On February 14, 2019, BASF asserted counterclaims against us in the Delaware Proceeding, alleging two claims for violations of U.S. antitrust law (one for exclusive dealing and the other for tying) as well as a claim for tortious interference with an alleged prospective business relationship between BASF and a BASF customer (the "BASF Counterclaims"). The BASF Counterclaims relate to our enforcement of the 844 Patent and our entry into several supply agreements with customers of its fuel vapor canister honeycombs. The U.S. District Court dismissed our patent infringement claims on November 18, 2020, and the case proceeded to trial on the BASF Counterclaims in September 2021.
On September 15, 2021, a jury in the Delaware Proceeding issued a verdict in favor of BASF on the BASF Counterclaims and awarded BASF damages of approximately $28.3 million, which will be trebled under U.S. antitrust law to approximately $85.0 million. On May 18, 2023, the court in the Delaware Proceeding entered judgment on the jury's verdict, which commenced the post-trial briefing stage. On February 13, 2024, the court in the Delaware Proceeding denied BASF's motion for pre-judgment interest on its tortious interference claim as well as our motion seeking judgment as a matter of law, or a new trial in the alternative. In addition, BASF has indicated it will seek attorneys' fees and costs in amounts that they will allege and have to demonstrate at a future date. Unless the judgment is set aside, BASF will be entitled to post-judgment interest pursuant to the rate provided under federal law.
On March 13, 2024, we appealed the verdict as well as the U.S. District Court's November 2020 dismissal of our patent infringement claims against BASF to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. On February 11, 2026, the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ingevity on our appeal and we have decided to no longer pursue any further appeals. We expect payment of the judgment, plus post-judgment interest, to be made in the second quarter of 2026. BASF has indicated it will seek attorneys' fees and costs in amounts that they will allege and have to demonstrate at a future date.
The full amount of the trebled jury verdict, $85.0 million, is accrued within "Accrued expenses" on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2025 and the charge was included within "Other (income) expense, net" on the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021. In addition, as a result of the judgment being officially entered on May 18, 2023, we have started accruing for post-judgment interest at the legally mandated interest rate. We expect that final resolution of these appeals will be complete within twelve months of the balance sheet date and, as a result, have reclassified the full amount of the verdict and post-judgment interest accrued to "Current liabilities." As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the total amount accrued, inclusive of post-judgement interest, was $95.4 million and $91.4 million, respectively. The amount of any liability we may ultimately incur could be more or less than the amount accrued.