Coway, one of the nation’s leading water purifier makers, said Friday it has won an appeal against a 2015 patent infringement ruling, which ordered the company to pay its smaller rival Chungho 10 billion won ($7.53 million) in compensation.

Chungho had filed a lawsuit against Coway for infringing its patented ice water purifying technology back in 2014. A year later, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Chungho’s claim. Coway immediately appealed.

On Thursday, the court overturned the previous ruling, denying Coway has infringed Chungho’s patent. The court acknowledged that using cooled water is a main part of Chungho’s ice making water purifier, but Coway products can make ice with lukewarm water.

“It has been a long lawsuit that lasted for eight years, but we are happy to have Coway’s technology officially recognized with the results of this appeal,” said an official from Coway. “We will continue to respond firmly to claims of patent infringement that are not based on facts, and work hard to protect our technology.”

Chungho expressed its regret over the latest ruling, and said it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

By Lee Yoon-seo (yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com)