EFI claims victory in patent litigation

EFI has announced victory in its Spanish patent litigation with Jose Vicente Tomás Claramonte, the president of KERAjet, S.A., involving EFI Cretaprint’s ceramic digital inkjet printing systems.

Mr. Tomás Claramonte filed the lawsuit against Cretaprint in May 2011, prior to EFI’s January 2012 acquisition of the innovative ceramic inkjet printer business, alleging that Cretaprint’s ceramic digital inkjet printer products infringe his patent. From the outset, EFI and EFI Cretaprint have maintained that, not only are Mr. Tomás Claramonte’s infringement claims meritless, but that his patent is invalid. In a decision issued earlier this month, the Commercial Court in Valencia agreed with EFI, and resoundingly rejected Mr. Tomás Claramonte’s infringement claims and declared that his purported invention lacked any inventive step. The appeal period has not yet expired. A court in the United Kingdom issued a similar judgment of non-infringement late last summer.

“The court’s ruling vindicates what we have maintained all along: that Mr. Tomás Claramonte’s lawsuit was baseless and that his patent is invalid,” said EFI’s General Counsel, Bryan Ko. “We will not tolerate meritless claims being filed against us, and we will, as we always have, vigorously defend ourselves and our intellectual property rights.”

“EFI has been a leading innovator in the print industry since our founding, and we acquired Cretaprint based on their demonstrated innovation and success in the ceramic inkjet market,” added Ghilad Dziesietnik, EFI’s Chief Technology Officer. “The victory confirms EFI Cretaprint’s place as a leading innovator in the ceramic inkjet printer market, and we look forward to continuing to bring our innovative customer-focused printing solutions to our customers throughout the world.”