Brinkmann Corporation will provide Copreci with financial compensation for sales made to date and obtain authorisation to continue using the Copreci dual solution in the future

Both parties reached an agreement after the lawsuit brought against the multinational by Aretxabaleta Co-op for patent violation with Georgia North District Court in the US.

The patents subject to the lawsuit: US 7, 950,384 B2, US 8,282,390 B2 and US 8,449,289 B2, refer to dual valve cooking appliances that use both natural and liquid gas. This dual solution gives manufacturers the great advantage of offering a single valid model for both gases instead of having to offer a model for each gas type.

During the lawsuit brought on 5th December 2012, an extremely favourable situation arose for Copreci, in which the Court clearly supported the arguments presented by MONDRAGON Corporation in relation to the existence of said violation.

In view of this situation, the parties reached an agreement and dismissed the legal proceedings. By virtue of this agreement, Brinkmann Corporation will provide Copreci with financial compensation for sales made to date and obtain authorisation to continue using the Copreci dual solution in the future. Furthermore, Brinkmann Corporation will have to mark their products with Copreci patent numbers and indicate on their website that these products are sold under the Copreci patent licence.

Similar cases

This is not the first time that Copreci has won a patent conflict against a US giant. Three years ago an out-of-court agreement was reached with the multinational company Coleman, which had been selling Copreci cooking appliances without its consent, thereby violating US patent 7,174,913 B2 for a gas tap that produces touch and sound readings similar to those produced by Hi-Fi equipment controls. Coleman agreed to compensate Copreci for sales made to date and cease manufacturing and selling the infringing product.