Välinge extends the legal actions against Egger following the court decision in Mannheim.

Viken, Sweden - April 16, 2010

The new action is based on the Välinge dimension patent EP 1 396 593 and is an extension of the infringement actions on the basis of the Välinge snap patent EP 1 626 136.

Välinge initiated in July 2009 a legal action against Egger in Mannheim based on three patents. The court has informed today that the Välinge complaint has been rejected. The reasons are not known but Välinge assumes that the interpretation “play is shifting”, which is in line with a court expert opinion in Braunschweig, was not accepted by the court in Mannheim. Välinge will appeal this decision and bring evidence that the Egger products in fact have a play fit.

This action is a first step in comprehensive and long term legal actions against Egger where a large number of patent will be included.

A new action is already filed against Egger based on the Välinge snap patent EP 1 626 136. This patent is granted without the play limitation. The hearing is scheduled to be held on October 29, 2010

Välinge has today also filed a new a legal action, which is an extension of the Snap patent action. The new action is based on the Välinge Dimension patent EP 1 396 593 that covers a compact locking system and specifies some relationships between the floor thickness, strip length, groove depth and locking angle in laminate floorings.

"Egger has tried to design around the Välinge patents in a very clever way and the specific Egger profile is outside some of our locking patents, which we have not been able to use. Välinge has however a patent base of 700 patents and it is according to our opinion mainly a matter of time until we will be able to convince the courts that Egger infringes some of our patents. In the mean time, the infringing volumes are increasing. We hope that our actions, which are now based on 5 patents, will be sufficient", says Darko Pervan, CEO Välinge.

For further information, please contact:

Marcus Palm
Sr. Legal Counsel
Mobile : +46 722 111054
e-mail: