Seasoning maker Ajinomoto Co. and a former employee reached a court-mediated settlement worth 150 million yen Friday to settle a dispute over patent transfers dealing with the production method for the artificial sweetener aspartame, the company said.

In the settlement mediated by the Tokyo High Court, Ajinomoto agreed to pay 150 million yen to Masayoshi Naruse, 63, who sought 690 million yen.

According to Naruse's attorney, it is the first suit over patent transfers to be settled through mediation, and the largest sum ever paid for a patent transfer upon the conclusion of a lawsuit.

The court had been mediating for Ajinomoto and Naruse since both sides appealed a ruling in February by the Tokyo District Court ordering the company to pay 189.35 million yen to Naruse.

The company issued a written announcement saying it decided to agree to the settlement because it reflects its claims and because the payment was reduced by a considerable margin. Naruse said through his attorney that the settlement acknowledged his contribution was more than the company had originally insisted.

Naruse, a former head of the process development division of Ajinomoto's Central Research Laboratories, developed the production method for aspartame along with colleagues in 1982. Ajinomoto obtained 10 patents on the method in Japan, the United States, Canada and Europe.

The Feb. 24 district court ruling said Ajinomoto has earned about 7.97 billion yen from the production method and said Naruse's contribution accounted for 2.5 percent of that sum, ordering the company to pay Naruse an amount in accordance with his contribution.

Naruse had originally demanded 2 billion yen from his former employer.

Under in-house rules for remunerations for patent transfers, Ajinomoto gave Naruse and his colleagues 12 million yen for the method in 2000. Of that sum, Naruse got 10 million yen.