I4F updates market on positive developments for Halstead/Home Depot in the Välinge court case

• Halstead/Home Depot file counterclaim against Välinge for inequitable conduct
• Filing cites breaches of duty of candor and good faith by Välinge

WILLEMSTAD, CURAÇAO – I4F, a group of companies providing patents and technologies to the flooring industry, today shared details relating to developments favouring Halstead New England Corp. and Home Depot USA, Inc. in the court case brought against them by Välinge.

Recent case filings assert that three of Välinge’s patents, as well as subsequent patents from the same family, are unenforceable on the basis of inequitable conduct. It is believed Välinge and its employees, including a named inventor, deliberately withheld important prior art documents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the application process.  By doing so, Välinge breached the duty of candor and good faith owed to the USPTO, making the patents unenforceable.  This development follows a decision by the court earlier this year which rendered four of Välinge’s Mannington patents invalid as indefinite.

These new developments reinforce further I4F’s belief that Välinge’s case against Halstead/Home Depot is unjustifiable and merely aimed at keeping I4F’s 3L TripleLock and Click4U systems out of the market.  As a result, I4F is of the opinion that the case should be dismissed.