In a filing with Bursa Malaysia Securities yesterday, Top Glove said the parties had agreed to a settlement whereby all claims in the action against Top Glove Sdn Bhd (TGSB), TG Medical Sdn Bhd and TG Medical (USA) Inc, and all counterclaims against Tillotson would be dismissed.
Top Glove said each party would bear its own costs, expenses and attorney’s fees.
Following the agreement, a joint motion for dismissal of the “Georgia Suit” between Tillotson and the Top Glove group of companies was filed in the US District Court Northern District of Georgia on July 2.
Top Glove said the settlement “does not give rise to any material or adverse impact to the financial performance and net asset of Top Glove and the group”.
Prior to yesterday’s announcement, Top Glove had said it was in the process of striking off the case and its US lawyers were of the opinion that the company had a very good case on the invalidity of the claim based on the Dec 14, 2009 International Trade Commission (ITC) decision.
To recap, the Georgia Suit was revived on April 21, when Tillotson announced that a stay of legal action was lifted on the patent infringement complaint filed against TGSB and TG Medical in Northern Georgia.
In May 2007, Tillotson had filed the complaint against a long list of nitrile glove manufacturers in Malaysia, Indonesia as well as manufacturers and resellers in the US. A total of 12 glove makers were named. The action was put on hold while an ITC investigation was underway.
Tillotson claimed that Neil Tillotson and Luc DeBecker had developed and patented the nitrile glove technology in 1990.
Other Malaysian glove makers named in the 2007 suit include Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Latexx Partners Bhd, Laglove (M) Sdn Bhd, Riverstone Resources Sdn Bhd and YTY Holdings Sdn Bhd.
On Dec 14, 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the federal circuit had ruled that the Tillotson patent was invalid, upholding an earlier ITC’s decision.
Together with Top Glove, these other companies had also been found to have not infringed on Tillotson’s patent. Some of the companies had also made out-of-court settlements with Tillotson.
Written by Loong Tse Min
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, July 7, 2010.
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