Under the agreement, Multigraf will be able to use Morgana’s technology in its new creasing and folding products.

In a joint statement, Morgana managing director Quen Baum and Robert Barrer, managing director of Multigraf, said that the agreement was important for manufacturers of European products.

It stated: "It is important for European manufacturers to share technologies, in order to reduce the time and cost of bringing new products to the market.

"It is also essential European manufacturers focus their efforts in stopping the influx of the low-quality unlicensed products that is beginning to be seen from China and other emerging markets."

Both companies stressed that they are committed to stopping their technologies, patents and IP being "blatantly copied by unscrupulous manufacturers and importers".

Milton Keynes-based Morgana Systems has a large number of patents to its name, many relating to its flagship AutoCreaser product, which it launched in 2000.

The company produces around 4,000 machines per year, of which it estimates that 85% are exported.