Opposition Against Valinge Patent Rejected

Viken, SWE, May 26, 2015—The Opposition Division of the EPO has rejected an opposition filed against the EP 1 437 457 and will maintain Valinge's patent as granted.

The grounds for the opposition were undue broadening and lack of inventive step; however, the Opposition Division did not follow the arguments of the opponent and rejected the opposition.

The patent protects a floorboard comprising a first and second locking means adapted to provide mechanical joining of adjacent joint edges of such floorboards along long and short sides, respectively. The first and second locking mechanisms differ from each other with respect to at least one of the parameters material composition and material properties. A vast majority of engineered wood products comprising a mechanical locking fall within the scope of protection of the patent.

The application for the patent was filed as a divisional application based on EP 1 084 318 with the filing date of 31.05.99.

The decision can be appealed.