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Re: European Patent EP 0 761 415
Owner of patent: Plasmatreat GmbH, Steinhagen
The Düsseldorf District Court has ruled in favour of Plasmatreat in two patent infringement actions, one of which was brought against Arcotec GmbH, Mönsheim, the other against RAantec GmbH & Co. KG, Borgholzhausen. The subject matter in both proceedings is the assertion of Plasmatreat's rights arising from European patent EP 0 761 415 relating to a process for increasing the wettability of the surfaces of workpieces. The validity of said patent has been confirmed in the past by the European Patent Office in its decision of 5 July 2005.
In each case Plasmatreat had taken legal action with the objective of permanently enjoining Arcotec and RAantec respectively from the distribution and sale of certain devices for the surface treatment of workpieces and of finding these companies liable for damages insofar as the devices forming the subject matter of these disputes fall within the scope of protection of patent EP 0 761 415. The action against Arcotec related to the "arcospot" plasma generator (PGS 061 1D). In its decision of 29 June 2006 the court has followed Plasmatreat's motion according to which Arcotec has committed contributory infringements of the patent at issue because the device referred to as "arcospot" is designated and suitable for performing the process protected to the benefit of Plasmatreat. Following the judgement, Arcotec is prohibited from carrying on the distribution and sale of plasma generators which infringe the patent without notifying buyers in a mandatory form that these devices must not be used for using the protected process. The amount of damages to be paid by Arcotec to Plasmatreat still has to be assessed on the basis of the rendering of accounts to be submitted by Arcotec.
The decision of the Düsseldorf Patent Chamber of 13 July 2006 against RAantec related to a device manufactured by this company together with the company AFS, Neusäß, which is offered and distributed under the name "PlasmaJet" (generators G05P, G10P/G12P). Also in respect of RAantec the Düsseldorf Court has issued an injunction with respect to contributory infringement and has held RAantec liable for accounts and damages.
For years, Plasmatreat has made considerable investments in research, development, production and distribution of its patented products. Plasmatreat believes that the still appealable decisions of the Düsseldorf District Court against two competitors strengthen its intellectual property rights ensuring the high technical standards achieved. This applies all the more because it can be derived from the referenced judgments that customers of these devices who operate the protected process themselves commit a direct patent infringement which, inter alia, triggers claims for damages to the benefit of Plasmatreat.
Steinhagen, 2006/08/02
