Research centre and scientist clash over ammunition material invention

A dispute over the intellectual property rights to a technology for producing nitrocellulose from hemp fibre has pitted the Physical Sciences and Technology Research Centre against scientist Eivydas Andriukonis, LRT reports.

Nitrocellulose is a key chemical used to produce gunpowder and, consequently, ammunition. The invention could therefore be applied in the defence industry.

Andriukonis and his colleagues developed the technology while working with the research centre. The centre dismissed him, but the Labour Disputes Commission ruled that the dismissal was unlawful and ordered compensation.

The Physical Sciences and Technology Research Centre has also filed a lawsuit with the Vilnius City District Court seeking the return of a commercial secret, a ban on its use and the application of interim protective measures.

The centre says the legal proceedings concern the alleged appropriation of a commercial secret belonging to the institution and related to nitrocellulose and its production technologies.

Andriukonis is one of the main authors of the invention. According to his account submitted to the Labour Disputes Commission, the dispute began when the parties failed to agree on the distribution of shares in a future spin-off company.

A spin-off company is a new business established with the participation of a research or higher education institution to commercialise inventions. Andriukonis declined to comment on the dispute.

Nitrocellulose shortage affects ammunition production

Nitrocellulose is an industrial material that can be produced from various plant-based sources of cellulose. It is mainly made from cotton linters, a by-product of the cotton industry.

The European Union has declared an objective of being able to produce about one million 155 mm shells a year from 2027. However, shortages of nitrocellulose mean that ammunition production is not yet approaching that target.

Europe has imported cotton linters from Asia, mainly China. Major European ammunition producers, including Sweden’s Saab and Germany’s Rheinmetall, have warned about the risks of this dependence.

The shortage is making it harder to support Ukraine, slowing the expansion of Europe’s defence industry and preventing NATO from building up adequate ammunition stocks in case Russia decides to attack NATO countries.

Nitrocellulose can also be produced from wood sawdust and hemp fibre. Cellulose accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of wood sawdust and about 70 per cent of hemp fibre.

The technology developed by Andriukonis and his colleagues could enable ammunition production from an alternative source and reduce dependence on Asian countries.

The technology was developed at Andriukonis’s initiative using the research centre’s infrastructure, in exchange for shares in a future spin-off company. Negotiations over the distribution of shares and intellectual property rights subsequently broke down, and the dispute is now before the courts.