Välinge Innovation has secured protection on Unilin’s Anti-creak patent family — WO06032398 — filed on September 14th, 2005. The patent family includes, among others, the granted patents EP 1 640 530 and US7,762,035.
The granted patents are for a board-shaped floor panel having coupling parts on at least two opposite edges, which enable multiple panels to be coupled to each other. The coupling parts have contact portions that force the floor panels in the coupled position laterally towards each other with a tension force. The coupling parts also include support portions which cause a fixation in the relative positions of the contact surfaces, the contact portions cooperating under tension when the floor panels are in the coupled position.
The family is deemed relevant for products such as laminate and wood flooring products installed by angling or snapping, for example. Through this agreement, Välinge can offer its licensees producing such flooring products, a non-assertion undertaking further extending the patent protection.
This non-assertion undertaking is a result of Välinge’s pro-active IP strategy which aims to reach agreements with other patent holders in areas protected by overlapping patents — this aims to eliminate uncertainties on the market, reduce legal consequences for licensees and their customers, and to accelerate the introduction of new technologies and products in the industry.
Välinge will contact its licensees in the near future to offer this protection in the current license agreements.
