Consumables
Spicers Paper Sued for Illegal Patent Infringement for Selling VIM Products
Tuesday 19. August 2008 - Presstek, Inc., the leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset business solutions, today announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has ordered that Spicers Paper, Inc. be added to a pending action before the ITC as a result of Spicers distribution of printing plates sold by Israeli printing plate manufacturer VIM Technologies, Ltd.
VIM and its manufacturing partner, Hanita Coatings RCA, Ltd., were sued in the ITC action earlier this year by Presstek, Inc. for infringement of Pressteks patent and trademark rights. Presstek is already in the process of suing two other U.S. based distributors of VIM products, Guaranteed Service & Supplies, Inc. and Recognition Systems, Inc., as well as one Canadian based distributor, AteCe Canada. In June, Ohio Graphco, who had previously been included in the suit, agreed to cease importing and selling any of the allegedly infringing VIM printing plates and to cooperate in the Presstek lawsuit. Presstek is seeking, among other things, an Order from the ITC forbidding the importation of the VIM printing plates in the U.S.; such an Order would apply not only to VIM, Spicers Paper and the other respondents in the ITC action, but to all dealers, distributors and end-users of infringing VIM printing plates.
In announcing its latest action against Spicers Paper, James R. Van Horn, General Counsel and Secretary for Presstek said, “Our intellectual property is a valuable corporate asset and we will protect it. When we filed our ITC action against VIM Technologies earlier this year, we stated our intention to protect against the infringement of our patent rights by any party violating those rights. Spicers Paper has been aggressively marketing and distributing VIM printing plates, in clear violation of Pressteks patent and trademark rights. We intend to take all necessary steps to stop this infringement.”
In the ITC action, Presstek alleges that VIMs Di-R and Dp-R Waterless Processless Thermal Plate Rolls infringe Pressteks U.S. Patent Nos. 5,339,737 and 5,487,338. Presstek also claims that VIM is infringing Pressteks Federally registered DI Trademark. Presstek has held this trademark since 1992.