The ITC upheld Presstek's patents as valid and enforceable, supporting its complaint that Israel-based VIM's digital offset printing plates infringe its intellectual property.

The ruling could result in a ban on the import and sale of VIM plates within the US and potential damages dating back to 2004, when the court decided that VIM was first aware that the products might infringe Presstek IP.

Presstek has also filed suits against US and Canadian distributors and has succeeded in gaining an agreement with Ohio Graphco to cease sales.

The judge in the ITC decision recommended that other distributors, including Spicer's Paper, Guaranteed Service and Supplies, Recognition Systems and AteCe Canada be banned from the import and sale of VIM plates.

Presstek General Counsel James R Van Horn described the ruling as "a total victory" in its "illegal pirating of our protected technology".

"This decision by the ITC should serve as a fair warning to all distributors of VIM's infringing products. Presstek considers the sales VIM printing plates by any party to be an illegal, intentional and willful violation of our pataent rights and we will take all appropriate actions to protect theese rights and recover damages resulting from this illegal infringement," he warned.

VIM said it would file a petition for review with the ITC today (10 August) and expected the decision would be overturned, according to Lee Goldberg of Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer LLP, an attorney for VIM.

"VIM strongly believes that the initial determination was wrongly decided in that it, among other things, ignored the intrinsic evidence - the teachings of the patents and the respective file histories - in coming to its erroneous claim construction," said Goldberg.

In Germany, Presstek won a patent suit directly against VIM and its manufacturing partner Hanita Coatings, resulting in an injunction against the further import and sale of plates and an order that VIM hand over information on past sales so that the amount of damages to award can be assessed.