The equipment company Metso Corp., Helsinki, Finland, has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Terex Corp., its subsidiary, Powerscreen International Distribution Limited, and two of its U.S.-based dealers over its mobile crushing and screening machines.
According to Metso, Dec. 9, 2011, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York affirmed the jury's verdict of Dec. 6, 2010, that the defendants had willfully infringed Metso's U.S. patent relating to mobile crushing and screening machines. In light of the willfullness of the infringement, the court doubled the original damages award to $31.6 million covering the infringing sales from March 2000 through October 2007.
In addition, the Metso news release indicates the defendants will have to pay for additional compensation covering infringing sales after October 2007, which will be accounted for later and also doubled. The final compensation for Metso will include interest.
In July 2011, the court issued an order permanently barring the defendants from marketing their mobile screening machines that were found infringing Metso's patents.
If the court decision is appealed, the lawsuit will continue in the appeals court. Metso says it will book the compensation in its financial statements only after the final outcome of the lawsuit is clear.
In response to the jury verdict and injunction in the patent infringement lawsuit brought against Terex Corp., Westport, Conn., and its Powerscreen subsidiary, the company issued the following statement:
“On Dec. 9, 2011, a final judgment in support of the adverse jury verdict was issued. The court’s most recent ruling is in line with the company’s expectations with regard to the damages award in this case. These types of patent cases are complex and the company strongly believes that the judgment is contrary to both the law and the facts. Accordingly, Terex and Powerscreen will be appealing the judgment and the related injunction and believe that they will ultimately prevail on appeal.”
Terex continues, “It is important to note that the judgment and injunction only relate to certain models of Powerscreen mobile screening plants with the alleged infringing folding side conveyor design that were sold in the United States. These models have been updated with Powerscreen’s new proprietary S range of conveyors which have even better stockpiling capability than previous models. Thus, the judgment and injunction do not affect the continued use of any Powerscreen mobile screening plants currently in operation in the United States, the sales of any Powerscreen mobile screening plants outside of the United States, or the sale of any screening plants sold by Powerscreen in the United States or elsewhere. Likewise, the judgment and injunction do not affect the sale of any other products manufactured by Terex or any of its subsidiaries. Accordingly, Terex does not expect the judgment or injunction will have a material impact on Terex’s consolidated business or overall operating results.”
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