FOSTER CITY, Calif., Jan. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq:EFII), a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, announced victory in its Spanish patent litigation with Jose Vicente Tomas Claramonte, the president of KERAjet, S.A., involving EFI Cretaprint's ceramic digital inkjet printing systems.
Mr. Tomas Claramonte filed the lawsuit against Cretaprint in May 2011, prior to EFI's January 2012 acquisition of the innovative ceramic inkjet printer business, alleging that Cretaprint's ceramic digital inkjet printer products infringe his patent. From the outset, EFI and EFI Cretaprint have maintained that, not only are Mr. Tomas Claramonte's infringement claims meritless, but that his patent is invalid. In a decision issued earlier this month, the Commercial Court in Valencia agreed with EFI, and resoundingly rejected Mr. Tomas Claramonte's infringement claims and declared that his purported invention lacked any inventive step. The appeal period has not yet expired. A court in the United Kingdom issued a similar judgment of non-infringement late last summer.
“The court's ruling vindicates what we have maintained all along: that Mr. Tomas Claramonte's lawsuit was baseless and that his patent is invalid,” said EFI's General Counsel, Bryan Ko. “We will not tolerate meritless claims being filed against us, and we will, as we always have, vigorously defend ourselves and our intellectual property rights.”
“EFI has been a leading innovator in the print industry since our founding, and we acquired Cretaprint based on their demonstrated innovation and success in the ceramic inkjet market,” added Ghilad Dziesietnik, EFI's Chief Technology Officer. “The victory confirms EFI Cretaprint's place as a leading innovator in the ceramic inkjet printer market, and we look forward to continuing to bring our innovative customer-focused printing solutions to our customers throughout the world.”
This news release contains forward-looking statements, that are statements other than statements of historical fact including words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “consider”, “plan” and similar, any statements related to strategies or objectives of management for future operations, products, development, performance, any statements of assumptions or underlying any of the foregoing and any statements in the future tense. The statements in this press release that could be deemed forward-looking statements include statements regarding EFI's litigation strategy and our plans regarding EFI Cretaprint's printing solutions, and any statements or assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual or future results to differ materially. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with EFI's businesses, please refer to the risk factors section in the Company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. EFI undertakes no obligation to update information contained herein, including forward-looking statements.