Tarkett Responds to Congoleum’s Patent Infringemen
Farnham, Québec, October 6--Tarkett is in receipt of Congoleum’s allegations of infringement on Congoleum U.S. Patent #6,730,388 B2 and has no information suggesting that Tarkett is in violation of that patent.
The company has contacted Congoleum to obtain more details on the basis for the notice it has received, and is confident that the situation will be resolved quickly and with no negative impact on its customers.
The Congoleum patent is one of many in existence regarding reinforced wear surfaces or coatings. Tarkett is working closely with its coating supplier to analyze this lengthy and technical patent to determine if it has any relation to certain Tarkett resilient products.
"We are taking this situation very seriously, and are compiling all of the information necessary for us to evaluate the allegations and make a determination," says Jan Lembregts, president, Tarkett Residential, North America. "This is a very complex task; we will issue a more formal response once all of the information has been thoroughly reviewed.”
Many factors, including the existence of other third party patents, Tarkett's own intellectual property and the validity of the Congoleum Patent, also will affect this analysis. The results of this research will determine the next course of action for Tarkett.
“We would like to reassure all of our valued customers that Tarkett stands by our entire line of products," Lembregts adds.
