Quarles & Brady Obtains Litigation Victory for Flambeau, Inc.
Madison, WIS. — The law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP today announced the firm has obtained a complete victory in a patent litigation case on behalf of its client, Flambeau, Inc.
On December 13, 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Utah ruled from the bench that all patent claims asserted against Flambeau by Etagz, Inc. are invalid. Etagz accused a number of Flambeau’s Duncan Toy Company's products and Flambeau Outdoors' products, which come with instructional CD-ROMs or DVDs, of infringing 81 claims in three related patents.
Flambeau was represented in the lawsuit by Josephine K. Benkers, Michael J. Curley, Martha Jahn Snyder, Stacy A. Alexejun and Anthony A. Tomaselli of Quarles & Brady, with the assistance of David Bennion of Parsons, Behle & Latimer as local counsel.
“Flambeau is very pleased with the result, as Flambeau is not willing to pay licensing fees to non-deserving entities,” said Flambeau president Jason Sauey, referring to the practice of some patent holders suing on questionable patents and infringement theories, often with the objective of a quick settlement. “While the attorneys’ fees needed to fight such suits may be greater than what such a plaintiff will settle for, Flambeau and the rest of the Nordic Group of Companies, Ltd. believe in standing on principle and will not pay demands to license patents that are invalid and/or not infringed. We would rather go the distance in litigation than pay undeserved windfalls to such parties.”
“It is very satisfying to achieve this victory for our client,” said attorney Benkers of Quarles & Brady. “We believed that the patents at issue did not embody anything that had not been done before and, therefore, that Flambeau was not liable for patent infringement. The Court agreed and invalidated the asserted claims.”
Etagz sued more than 60 other entities in a long string of lawsuits over these same patents, and it sent a number of pre-litigation demands for licensing fees to others. As of the time of the ruling, several lawsuits were still pending against other parties on the patents at issue in the case.
About Flambeau, Inc.
Flambeau, established in 1947 and owned by Nordic Group of Companies, provides a network of operational facilities for cooperation in serving customers, international sales capabilities, and extensive tooling, managerial, injection and blow molding experience. Since 1947, Flambeau has provided turnkey, total resource contract manufacturing partnerships with their worldwide OEM customers fulfilling applications for custom thermoplastic parts and assemblies, with specialization in injection molding, blow molding, and insert molding processes; decorating, tooling and specialty equipment as well as plastic transportation/storage boxes and cases. For further information, please visit www.flambeau.com.
Flambeau, Inc. is a member of Nordic Group of Companies, Ltd. Nordic Group (headquartered in Baraboo, Wisconsin) is a privately held holding company consisting of subsidiaries with 22 facilities, and 23 marketing units around the world with over 2,400 associates. Nordic Group companies manufacture and distribute plastic, seating and transportation products worldwide for industrial, commercial and consumer markets. For more information or catalog, write Nordic Group of Companies, Ltd., 715 Lynn Avenue, Suite 100, Baraboo, WI 53913 USA or visit www.nordicgroup.com.