i4F and Eksa Tile & Stone settle litigation for sale of unlabeled SPC panels with an i4F locking system in Canada

• Unlabeled product identified during ongoing worldwide i4F sweep program
• i4F continues vigorous enforcement program to protect its patents and licensees

HAMONT, BELGIUM – i4F®, a group of companies providing patents and technologies to the flooring industry, today announced a settlement following i4F’s civil litigation filed against Canadian distributor Eksa Tile & Stone. i4F discovered the sale of unlabeled SPC panels in Canada during its ongoing retailer/distributor worldwide sweep program. The parties settled for an undisclosed amount and the ongoing litigation has been ended.

i4F’s active enforcement program is designed to ensure all i4F technologies, including

3L Triplelock® and Click4U®, as well as those it represents on behalf of its partners, are not infringed upon, or used without the appropriate license agreement. This also ensures that i4F licensees remain first in line with accessibility to the most advanced industry innovations and do not suffer unfair competition from unlicensed product. As part of this, labeling compliance is also scrutinized during the sweeps to ensure every box of products incorporating an i4F locking is properly labeled using a L2C holographic label.

i4F continues to do everything in its power to safeguard its licensees, patents and technologies around the world by implementing a patent strategy providing licensees with a strong and broad scope of patent protection as well as vigorous enforcement.