Düsseldorf District Court found in favour of Durst in a judgement regarding a German patent.

Durst said the ruling gave it the right to stop the sale of Vutek printers with white ink in Germany, and to claim a royalty for sales that had occurred in the past four years.

Durst also said that the court's confirmation of the patent meant it could now extend its action against EFI to other countries including the US.

[Related: Durst launches metallic silver UV ink]

However, EFI told ProPrint: "We believe that the Düsseldorf court’s infringement decision is wrong, and we have already appealed that decision.

"We also believe that the Durst patent is invalid in the first place, as two other German courts in Mannheim and Karlsruhe have indicated. 

"We have asked the German Federal Patent Court in Munich to invalidate the patent, and we believe that court will confirm that what Durst claims is not patentable."

No action will be taken against any firms with the Vutek QS machines covered by the disputed patent while the appeal process is ongoing.

The two firms have been fighting over this issue since 2007.

[Related: More international news]

This article originally appeared at printweek.com

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