The authors relate and analyse the case of a long‐running patent conflict between two very large multinational firms in the synthetic fibre business ‐ AKZO and Du Pont. The subject of the conflict was a new fibre of the aramid dass. They show that the case reveals deficiencies in international patent law in need of correction.The analysis is conducted with the aid of social network theory applied to pub‐lished information and data supplied by AKZO and other sources. The theory takes as its starting point that when a number of related functional groups unite behind a common and vital interest the pursuit of this interest becomes virtually unstoppable. In this case the crucial social network was formed first within AKZO and then extended outside to include politicians and government. It propelled the firm to pursue to the end attempts to by‐pass a patent position held by Du Pont.The paper reveals that an apparently strong patent position can actually help a rival to circumvent it. This defect in the patent law is leading companies to avoid patenting and to rely instead on secrecy alone. The authors believe that this will act against the public interest, for exam‐ple, by preventing thorough public assessment of a new technology before it is implemented. They argue for changes in the patent law to reduce