Printing plate manufacturer Presstek alleged to the US District Court in New Hampshire that Prograf and its president Joseph Musgrave had violated its rights by selling VIM plates, which Presstek says infringes its US Patent numbers 5,339,737 and 5,487,338.

The company said it holds Musgrave personally liable for allegedly aiding and abetting the sales, which it claims are an infringement of its patents.

It is seeking actual damages to compensate for the alleged infringement, as well as increased damages of three times the actual damages, plus legal fees.

James van Horn of Presstek's general counsel said: "This case is well advanced and we anticipate a successful resolution during 2009. 

"With this recently filed lawsuit we are declaring our intention to seek monetary damages from parties who have violated our legally protected patent rights, such as Prograf Digital Services."

Prograf Digital Services was unavailable for comment.

This is not the first time Presstek has taken such action over its printing plate patents. The US plate manufacturer launched a similar action in Europe against VIM last year, filing a complaint with the Düsseldorf District Court in Germany.

In this action, Presstek, which had already been seeking an order from the ITC in the US forbidding the importation and sale of VIM plates, said it was looking to protect its rights in Europe, in addition to seeking damages.

In another previous action, this time in the US, the company succeeded in forcing one reseller, Ohio Graphco, to agree to stop distributing VIM plates.

However, Presstek is now seeking an order forbidding the importation of VIM plates into the US, which would apply not only to the respondents in the case, but to all dealers, distributors and end-users.

In the current action against Prograf Digital Services, Presstek has also named VIM's manufacturing partner Hanita Coatings RCA and a number of distributors, including US-based Guaranteed Service & Supplies and Recognition Systems and Canadian-based AteCe Canada.

In a statement last year, VIM Technologies has described Presstek's claims as "baseless" and maintained it would continue to sell the products.