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Fighting to Save an American
Company & Save U.S. Jobs!! PlasDECK, Inc. is a small
American business that is family owned and operated. We have
been facing patent litigation that Flexiteek International, a
large multinational corporation, has been pursuing against us.
Throughout this battle of David vs. Goliath, we at PlasDECK have
put all of our faith and effort into the belief that we have a
unique and original product and we have two U.S. Patents to
prove it. We have nothing to hide. Below, you will find a brief
outline of this court case and an explanation of why
we've embossed the bottom of our product.
- June 19, 2009
Flexiteek
Americas, Inc. et al v. Plasteak, Inc. et al
Click here to view court docket for Civil Case No.
0:08-cv-60996-JIC.
On June 19, 2009, the U.S. District Court of Florida ruled
in favor of Flexiteek International, in its patent
infringement case against PlasTEAK and PlasDECK. Being a
massive and wealthy multi-national corporation, Flexiteek had
some impressive and expensive lawyers. The basis of
Flexiteek’s argument was that the underside of PlasDECK’s
decking material exhibits longitudinal slots when magnified
50x and therefore infringes on their patent.
But, do these
look like longitudinal slots to you?
(photo of ours)
(photo of theirs)
The unintentional
microscopic marks on the bottom of our product are from the
rollers during the extrusion process, something that occurs on
all extruded products and cannot be avoided.
- December 2009 PlasDECK Receives Second U.S. Patent
Click here to view PlasDECK’s U.S. Patent #7,578,251
Click here to view PlasDECK’s U.S. Patent #7,617,791
Click here to view press release that describes the issuance
of PlasDECK’s second patent.
PlasDECK’s patents had been pending and the issuance of this
second patent validates the unique state-of-the-art
properties of the decking material. The granting of the
patent recognizes that PlasDECK is considerably different
from competing products. This second patent declares that
PlasDECK has a unique formulation of PVC that allows it to
become a peel-and-stick product with a pressure sensitive
adhesive backing.
- January 29, 2010
U.S. Patent Office Rejects the Whitaker
Patent Used by Flexiteek
Click here to view the Patent Office’s re-examination and
rejection of Flexiteek’s only U.S. patent (Re-examination
Control No. 90/009,533).
Click here to view our press release for more information on
this patent rejection.
PlasDECK, Inc. received notice from the U.S. Patent Office
stating that the U.S. patent held by Derek Whitaker and used
by the Norwegian synthetic decking company, Flexiteek
International AS, has been rejected. Upon re-examination of
this patent, the U.S. Patent Office has rejected patent
#6,895,881 (the “’881 Patent”) on two counts with the
conclusion that the patent does not provide sufficient
parameters to demonstrate any uniqueness or originality of
their product when compared to earlier patents. The
rejection of the ‘881 Patent means that Flexiteek no longer
has a valid U.S. Patent to infringe upon!
- February 5, 2010
U.S. District Court Places an Injunction
on PlasDECK
Click here to view the Injunction (Document 112).
On February 5, 2010, PlasDECK Inc. learns that an injunction
has been ordered to prohibit the making, using, offering to
sell, and selling of any smooth-bottomed
PlasDECK material. That's why we now
offer the E-Series with an embossed bottom.
This court case has been lengthy and expensive. We are doing
all we can to save our company and to protect the jobs of
our employees and PlasDECK installers.
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