BDMO has been cleared of the patent infringement actions brought by Pozzoli against the Belgian packaging manufacturer's Double Push Tray technology. German, English and French courts ruled against the Italian manufacturer.

iIn court proceedings filed against BDMO and Nickert GmbH, Pozzoli had claimed that the Double Push Tray infringes the European patent EP 0 676 763 which it says it own.

The Double Push Tray was developed by Montreuil Offset subsidiary and licensed to BDMO. The tray provides optimal space-saving storage and enables the individual removal of two or more discs from the pack, which can be customised.

In a 21 September judgment, the District Court of Düsseldorf dismissed the infringement action. Back in June, the English Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment pronounced by the UK Patents Court the year before and according to which the Pozzoli patent is invalid. And even if it were valid, it would not be infringed by the Double Push Tray of BDMO. In February, the French Tribunal de Grande Instance de Rennes revoked the Pozzoli patent and found that, consequently, an infringement of the patent has to be ruled out as well.

Geert Casselman, CEO of BDMO says: “BDMO has always taken the view that the Double Push technology does not infringe the Pozzoli patent. The courts in Germany, England and France have confirmed this position convincingly, in part by final and binding decisions. The judgments delivered by the German and French courts are not yet final, but considering the clear and convincing decisions issued by the court of appeal, however, we have no reason to doubt that Pozzoli will ultimately fail with their claims here as well.”

Story filed 19.11.07