Racine, WI, February 1--The Federal District Court in the Northern District of Illinois has entered judgment in favor of Alloc, Inc. of Racine, Wisconsin, the Berry Group of Oostrozebeke, Belgium, and Valinge Innovation AB of Viken, Sweden.
The consent judgment represents the successful assertion of Valinge’s U.S. Patent 5,516,579. In the judgment, the Court ordered the Illinois distributor Westcott Hindmarsh to stop selling Quality Craft’s Duraclick laminate flooring in the United States until the Valinge ‘579 patent expires, which does not occur until 2015. The judgment is significant because it is the first time that infringing laminate flooring made in China was deemed to infringe the Valinge ‘579 patent.
In the judgment, the distributor of the Chinese-made infringing Quality Craft laminate admitted that the product was infringing, and admitted that the Valinge ‘579 patent was valid. In addition, the distributor agreed to pay to Alloc, Berry and Valinge a significant royalty for past sales, and agreed to pay a portion of their legal expenses.
Alloc is very pleased with the result in this case, and intends to build upon this success to stop the importation and sale of other products that infringe the Valinge ‘579 patent, including other Chinese-made products, as well as products made in the United States and in Europe.
