The Helsinki Court of Appeal announced a judgment where the Helsinki District Court’s judgment from 2009 was left almost unamended in the patent dispute where Peikko Group was drawn into by its rival company Anstar Oy. Anstar’s lost its appeal. The Helsinki Court of Appeal decreased the compensation set by the Helsinki District Court by EUR 25.003,64. The Court also decided that Anstar was to pay Peikko’s legal fees by EUR 109.631,00.
The patent dispute was linked to Peikko’s PC Corbel product range which was launched onto the market during 2002. The dispute started in 2003 when Anstar sued Peikko and claimed that Peikko was infringing its patent. It was concluded in legal proceedings during 2003–2008 that Anstar’s patent was valid. The recent proceedings during 2009-2011 concerned the question of whether Peikko Group Oy infringed the patent and if so, would Peikko be liable to pay compensation for damages. The Finnish patent in question originating from 1989 was in force until February 2009, and thus the case has had no commercial implication for customers.
“I sincerely hope that the recent legal proceedings will put an end to this very unnecessary and absurd patent dispute where Peikko was originally sued for patent infringement for nearly EUR 4 million, of which Peikko was ruled to pay less than 5 percent. The only winner in this dispute was Anstar’s legal advisor Borenius Ltd. Borenius’ invoicing in this lengthy process has been nearly half a million EUR.”, states Topi Paananen, CEO of Peikko Group Corporation.
Further information:
Topi Paananen, CEO, Peikko Group Corporation, Tel. + 358 50 384 3001, email: [email protected]
Peikko Group Corporation is a Finnish family-owned company specializing in composite beams and fastening products for concrete connections. Peikko Group has subsidiaries in Austria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The production facilities of Peikko are located in China, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Peikko employs more than 700 people. Further information: www.peikko.com