Ceramic inkjet firm KeraJet filed the lawsuit against rival Spanish firm Cretaprint in 2011, before the latter's acquisition by EFI in January 2012.
KeraJet president Jose Vicente Tomas Claramonte had accused Castellon-based Cretaprint of infringing a patent that he said related to his company's ceramic tile printing technology, but the claim was thrown out in January this year by the Commercial Court in Valencia.
The court ruled that the claim was meritless and that KeraJet’s patent was invalid because it did not involve an inventive step.
Claramonte appealed the ruling at the Provincial Court of Valencia which, on 15 July, backed the original verdict, ruling that the patent is null and void and relates to EFI Cretaprint's technology.
EFI’s General Counsel Bryan Ko said: "The Provincial Court has confirmed what we believed all along: that this lawsuit was baseless and that Mr. Tomas Claramonte’s patent is invalid.
"We now look forward to decisions from the German and Italian courts in lawsuits filed by EFI, and expect the patent will be invalidated in those countries, too."
EFI wins latest patent lawsuit
A Spanish appeals court has backed an earlier ruling that claims of patent infringement brought against Cretaprint are meritless.
