English
STOPAQ FILES PATENT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT
STOPAQ FILES PATENT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST CANUSA
PRESS RELEASE
18 January 2010
Stopaq Europe B.V. (“Stopaq”) has announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Canusa Systems Ltd. and its publicly traded parent company ShawCor Ltd. of Canada (“Canusa”) for infringement of patents relating to its self-healing anti-corrosion technology.
The patent infringement action relates to two of Stopaq’s patents applied to Stopaq’s Wrappingband and states that Canusa’s Wrapid Bond product line is an illegal copy. The lawsuit, which also lists directors and officers of Canusa as defendants, seeks permanent injunction, destruction of stocks and damages. The action was filed on Friday 15 January 2010 in the district court of Mannheim, Germany.
Frits Doddema, Stopaq CEO, commented on the filing:
“We have filed this case for a very simple reason: Stopaq’s property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited. We spent over eight years of research and development to find the perfect product that stops corrosion and many more years to open this new market for visco-elastic material. We invested many millions of Euros. It is disappointing that we have to resort to legal action to protect ourselves, but as our attempts to address this matter with Canusa were rebuffed, we had no choice. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that our intellectual property is protected.”
Frans Nooren, Inventor, Founder and Chairman of Stopaq, said:
“We understand that taking this action is a big step. We have designed, tested, patented and produced a unique product that has revolutionised the anti-corrosion market. This visco-elastic coating can be applied in any environment - from Alaska to the Middle East - for permanent corrosion protection. It is non-toxic, adheres to almost any surface and is especially effective in oil and gas pipelines. It can be employed for a multitude of applications whether onshore, offshore or sub-sea. It avoids many problems of conventional coating repair, saving pipeline owners millions. Patents exist to protect inventors, and we will defend our rights.”
Stopaq Wrappingband is used in corrosion protection and rehabilitation. It belongs to the new type of visco-elastic coating solutions and contains a unique composition of fully-amorphous polyisobutene polymers.
ENDS
For further information please contact Richard Moore
+44 2079401700 /
+44 7889 691 831