WINDOWS Magazine Winter 2013 | страница 32

BREEZWAY NEWS Breezway win patent infringement case A win for Au tralian ingenuity Following a lengthy legal process, Breezway Australia Holdings Pty Ltd now has a decision from the Federal Court of Australia regarding the infringement of its patent for the highly successful Altair® Louvre Window product. Breezway claimed that the Fresair Premium louvre manufactured by Preference Manufacturing Pte Ltd of Singapore infringed ten of the eleven 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 11 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. 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 29 Australian Window Association Winter 2013 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