The lawsuit comes after Tech-ni-fold wrote to the company last July to request that it cease selling its TrueScore-Pro and TrueScore-Pro Quad products, which Tech-ni-fold said infringed the company’s Tri-Creaser patent.
Rosback agreed to cease selling but a month later re-entered the market with a “modified” TrueScore-Pro product that Tech-ni-fold believes still infringes its patent, which protects the rotary rubber creasing technology used in 80% of Tech-ni-fold products.
Tech-ni-fold managing director Graham Harris said: "Fighting potential and actual patent infringement is sadly part of my working life. This is the third time we have dealt with such issues in the US alone in the past four years, and I will again do everything in my power to assist my lawyers in reaching the just conclusion, no matter how long it takes, and no matter what it may cost financially."
A spokesperson from Rosback said: "We contend that the claims against Rosback Company are baseless. Therefore, we will be continuing to sell the Patent Pending TrueScore-Pro and TrueScore-Pro Quad Kits as an established brand, in the new version, updated 1 August, 2013."
Tech-ni-Fold has asked the Court to enjoin Rosback from further infringing US Patent 6,572,519 and to award Tech-ni-Fold damages and costs, including attorneys' fees for willful infringement. The suit, Tech-ni-Fold Ltd. v. F.P. Rosback Company, No. 14-cv-5737, is now pending before Judge Virginia M Kendall in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The lawsuit is the latest of several filed by Tech-ni-fold in relation to its Tri-Creaser patent. In November 2011, after a three-year legal battle, Tech-ni-fold reached a settlement in its patent infringement lawsuit against two Minnesota-based companies, Update and D&R Bindery Solutions.
Under the initial 2011 settlement, Update and D&R agreed to cease manufacturing and sales of the Ultimate Score product, meaning Rosback was also prevented from reselling the products, which it sold under the name Truescore.
Harris added: "I will go through the journey of this case, as it pans out, with the comfort of knowing that I am representing the lone inventor who works hard to get an idea into the market in an honest fashion."
