Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
Valby, Denmark, Mar 18, 2008 - (ABN Newswire) - Company Announcement to the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority No. 13-2008, 18 March 2008
FLSmidth's U.S. subsidiaries, FLSmidth-Excel, LLC ("Excel") and Excel Foundry & Machine, Inc. ("Foundry"), that were acquired in 2005-06, have been accused of patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets by competitor Metso Minerals Inc., ("Metso"), a U.S. subsidiary of Metso Corporation.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the Federal Court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ("Federal Court Action"), involves specific components of Excel's popular line of cone crushers. Excel and Foundry have admitted unintended patent infringement, and in keeping with FLSmidth's code of business ethics, have committed to providing Metso with fair compensation for that patent infringement. Foundry has since ceased selling one of the components accused of patent infringement and the patent covering the other component has since expired. Thus, Excel and Foundry believe that the patent infringement component of the Federal Court Action will have no impact upon Excel's or Foundry's operations.
Despite Excel's and Foundry's willingness to compensate Metso for the limited infringement of its patents, Metso has since sought to enlarge the case by accusing Excel of misappropriation of alleged trade secrets. Excel is analyzing these new claims and is prepared to vigorously defend itself against these charges. Lastly, Excel and Foundry are investigating potential counter-claims against Metso for possible anti-competitive behaviour.
The Federal Court Action does not alter the expectations for FLSmidth's earnings for 2008.
-------------------------------------
Please address any questions regarding this announcement to Group Chief Executive Officer Jørgen Huno Rasmussen, FLSmidth & Co. A/S at +45 36 18 18 00.
For further information about FLSmidth, please visit www.flsmidth.com.
