Flexiteek Prevails over Patent Infringers

On Friday June 19^th, in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, a jury of eight individuals ruled in favour of Flexiteek in its patent infringement against PlasTEAK and PlasDECK. The case was filed in June 2008, alleging that the Tek-Dek products formerly imported and sold by PlasTEAK, as well as PlasDECK’s current line of synthetic teak decking products infringe upon Flexiteek’s United States Patent Number 6,895,881 (the “’881 Patent”). 

The District Court made additional rulings of law which considerably strengthened the ‘881 Patent. The District Court ruled that Flexiteek International AS was the owner of the ‘881 Patent, and that the ‘881 Patent was valid. Flexiteek’s main competitors, Tek-Dek, LTD. and PlasDECK, Inc. have been taking the position that Flexiteek was not the owner of the ‘881 Patent and that it was invalid. The District Court’s rulings demonstrate that the position taken by these competitors lack merit.

The District Court also rendered what is called a “claims construction” which defines what the claims and terms of the patent mean. The claims construction significantly broadened the scope of the ‘881 Patent against any and all potential infringers.

Shortly, the Court will issue an injunction prohibiting PlasTEAK and PlasDECK from making, marketing and selling the infringing products. The injunction will also apply to all the PlasDeck distributors and installers around the world.