QuadTech invokes 1992 patent in German suit against QI

Automatic colour registration systems developers QuadTech and QI Press Controls are in the courts in Germany over a patent US-based QuadTech says its European rival has breached. QuadTech says it has a 1992 patent over markless register control technology and gained an injunction against QI in the Düsseldorf district court on June 17 (six days after DRUPA closed) preventing it from marketing or selling its system in the country. QI – which introduced a new system it calls mRC at DRUPA – says it will appeal the decision. It claims the only operational, fully automatic colour and cut-off register system for web-offset presses that can use both the printed image and printed micro marks as its reference. While respecting the court’s decision, QI says it will continue to offer the system – for use with “virtually invisible” register marks which it says are the world’s smallest – but not offer the markless mode in Germany. It has also withdrawn the markless option from sale in the UK and USA. QuadTech says its rights in the German part of European patent EP 0-598-490 are replicated in patents for the same technology in a number of countries. President Karl Fritchen says the company sought the preliminary injunction to prevent unauthorised use of technology that it has invested substantial time and money to develop and protect. “To the extent that others infringe QuadTech’s intellectual property, we will evaluate those instances on a case-by-case basis and act accordingly to protect our rights and the innovative products we bring to the marketplace,” he said. Both companies announced new products at the Düsseldorf trade show: QuadTech promising “huge advantages” from its new image-based Newspaper Color Control System with AccuCam, while QI promoted mRC, including a new digital camera with integrated microprocessing. gx