Following a lengthy legal process, the Federal Court of Australia has made a decision regarding the infringement of Breezway Australia Holdings Pty Ltd’s patent for the Altair Louvre Window product.
Breezway claimed that the Fresair Premium louvre manufactured by Preference Manufacturing Pte Ltd of Singapore infringed 10 of the 11 claims of this patent.
Breezway Australia Holdings brought a Federal Court action against Preference Manufacturing of Singapore, its Australian operation Preference Manufacturing (Aust) Pty Ltd and its Australian distributor LGI Australia Pty Ltd.
On 11th February 2013 Justice McKerracher of the Federal Court gave his decision on the patent infringement case and the Preference companies' allegation the Breezway patent was not valid.
Justice McKerracher ruled the Breezway louvre patent valid and rejected all of Preferences claims. His Honour upheld all of Breezway's infringement claims and the Preference Premium clip was found to infringe 10 of the 11 claims.
His Honour acknowledged the expert assistance given to the Court by Glenn Bevan of Infinity Design in reaching his decision.
Final orders requiring the removal of Fresair Premium louvre clips by the Preference companies and LGI from the Australian marketplace have yet to be made by the Court. The Court has said it will be making the final orders shortly once it determines the level of the costs to be awarded to Breezway.
Final orders for damages against the Preference companies and LGI will be determined by the Court at the same time. Mr David Brogan, CEO of Breezway, said he expects the damages and cost claims will run into several hundred thousand dollars plus interest.
"I am proud to see an Australian company successfully defending its intellectual property against an imported product." Mr Brogan said.
"I am very pleased with the result as it reinforces the strength of Breezway's intellectual property and I would like to thank Ken Philp of Bennett & Philp for legal advice throughout the duration of this court case," he added.
