The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s patent invalidity judgment against five patents owned by Sherwin-Williams Co., involving beverage can coatings, agreeing substantial evidence supported the jury’s verdict in favor of industry competitor, PPG.

The appellate court was asked to weigh in as to whether the verdict returned in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania could be reasonably understood and whether it was supported by evidence. In May 2016, Sherwin-Williams filed an infringement suit against PPG, alleging it copied its BPA-free coating for beverage cans.