Press Releases
ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND – NOVEMBER 18, 2009 – Marport Canada Inc. announced today that it has received a decision from the Oslo District Court in Norway on its patent litigation with Scanmar AS. The Court’s ruling gave Marport a clear victory in its defense against Scanmar’s claims of patent infringement and ruled in favor of Marport’s pleading of invalidity for both patents.
The Court invalidated Scanmar’s Norwegian patent NO 326 638 (the ‘638 patent) and Scanmar’s Norwegian patent NO 325 356 (the ‘356 patent). A separate action in which Scanmar made several claims against Marport for violations of the Norwegian marketing and good business practises act was rejected by the Court. The ruling also removed the Dalane District Court temporary injunction against Marport and reversed the decision of that court for costs awarded to Scanmar. The Court also ordered that Scanmar pay all Marport legal expenses of 3,484,105 NOK (C$653,500) and court costs.
The ‘638 patent was a system patent centered on the use of angular measurement devices attached to fishing gear to provide a system for the charting of the fishing gear. The Scanmar claim against Marport was that all Marport sensors can be configured with inclinometers to provide pitch and roll information. Marport argued that the use of angular measurement on fishing gear is well known in the industry and that the Scanmar patent should be deemed invalid due to prior art and failure to meet the patent tests of novelty, inventive step or enablement.
The ‘356 patent was a system patent for measuring the filling ratio of the cod end of a trawl by using inclinometers. The Scanmar claim against Marport was that all Marport sensors can be configured to include inclinometers. Marport again argued that the use of inclinometers on the cod end is well known in the industry and that the Scanmar patent should be deemed invalid due to prior art and failure to meet the patent tests of novelty, inventive step or enablement.
In commenting on the ruling, Derrick Rowe, Marport's Chairman said, "This ruling represents a clear and total victory for Marport, its customers and the whole industry. Marport was confident it was completely within its legal rights to deliver innovative cost competitive solutions to the market but unfortunately it took a long and expensive court case to confirm this. Marport did not initiate this litigation but was forced to defend not only its rights to compete but the rights of the whole industry. We believe this is a real victory for our customers and the industry as a whole. Competitive markets drive innovation and provide users with choice and the freedom to use technology to better operate their business."
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