This positive decision for Classen is based on the patent infringement action in which the said manufacturer of laminate flooring raised against its competitor Kronotex on the 17th July 2006 at the district court in Düsseldorf. Kronotex makes use of the so-called “5g-Technology” from Välinge as licensee. According to the Judge in Düsseldorf the “5g-technology” infringes on the older Megaloc patent from Classen. In addition, the judge had no doubts about the validity of the Megaloc patent. A further patent infringement action against Välinge will take place before the court in Düsseldorf in September (4 a O 265/06)
“The stubbornness from Välinge is unbelievable for us. At the end of the day we had already registered our patent for the Megaloc-system with the German Patent Office two years before Välinge, in August 2001.” In the following year, again a year before Välinge, the registration for an international patent for Megaloc was made with the international patent registration made public on the 27th February 2003 thus creating “prior art” for all later patent applications. All this happened around 10 months before Välinge first brought its 5G system to patent registration in Sweden in December 2003. Furthermore, a further year lies between the publicising of our patent and the international registration from Välinge, so almost two years difference”, says an astonished Board of Directors at CLASSEN.
CLASSEN sees itself as the inventor of the quick installation system in which the panels are joined together on the short profile by simply lowering the panels into place. A short, sharp push down on the profile is then all that is required to lock both panels into place. Time consuming installation or even hammering to connect the short profile, as often found on traditional laminate installation systems, is no longer required with the patented CLASSEN fold-down system. The installation in itself can be carried out without tools.
A plastic clip within the short profile on the panels – the core of the patent – ensures a stable connection which is also capable of withstanding extreme forces on the join and prevents the connection from springing out.
Initially, in December 2003 the Välinge 5G patent was registered with the Swedish Patent Office, with the international registration following on 2nd December 2004. On both of these dates the international CLASSEN patent registration for the fold-down system “megaloc” had been long since been publicised (27th February 2003). Classen views itself as the inventor of “fold-down technology” and as having a very secure position. There can, of course, be an appeal from defendant Kronotex against this most recent decision of the District court in Düsseldorf.
Within Classen, there is a relaxed feeling with regards to the upcoming process against Välinge on the 20th September this year. “As we have seen from past evidence Classen has clearly the oldest rights here. Also, the current Kronotex decision will exert an important influence on the process in September,” claim Classen with a degree of certainty.
The Classen Group and Välinge have also had several instances in the past where patent disputes have had to go before the courts. This latest success in Düsseldorf is now the second victory against Välinge this year. Previously the District Court in Milan decided in favour of the Classen Group. Before this, in 2003, an ITC-process in the United States in which, among others, Välinge had raised actions against members of the Classen Group, the final decision was made in favour of the Classen group.
Classen in the Internet: www.classen.de
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