Aug 26 2006
Polymer Group, Inc. (PGI), announced today that it, through certain of its subsidiaries, settled its lawsuit filed against The Kroger Co. (Kroger), Inter-American Products, Inc. (Inter-American), and U.S. Nonwovens Corp. (USNW) for patent infringement related to private-label imaged wipes sold through Kroger's retail food stores.
Under the settlement agreement, PGI and the parties came to an agreement regarding the sale and distribution of remaining quantities of the allegedly infringing products through certain cut-off dates. After those dates, the three companies, Kroger, Inter-American and USNW, agreed not to sell any of the alleged infringing products. Additional terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The lawsuit, filed on July 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, alleged that USNW infringed and Kroger willfully infringed PGI's U.S. Patent No. RE 38,505, which relates to hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics having raised patterns.
"We are satisfied with the outcome of the agreements," said James L. Schaeffer, chief executive officer of PGI. "This is the first of what we hope to be many, acknowledgements of our proprietary position in the market and the steps we have taken to protect that position. As one of the innovative leaders in the industry, PGI is focused on continuing to build our technological capabilities and ensuring those capabilities are underpinned with a strong patent portfolio," Schaeffer said.
PGI has invested significant resources to develop successful programs based on its proprietary Apex(R) technology and ability to produce truly three-dimensional materials that have superior performance characteristics compared other products due specifically to the images created. PGI's patents in this area relate not only to new value-added wipes applications, but also to a broad variety of other highly engineered consumer and industrial end-use markets.