The court ruled that Agfa’s patent EP823327 was infringed in the Netherlands by the sales of Chengdu’s FIT digital printing plates.

Xingraphics was ordered to stop selling the plates in the Netherlands and to pay damages and costs.

Similar litigation is currently ongoing in Germany, which Agfa said it is confident of winning.

A spokesman said: "The Dutch Court is an authority in patent cases, so we can be confident that Xingraphics plates are infringing our plates."

[Related: Core Print invests in Agfa CTP]

However, Xingraphics vice-president Safwen Hijazi said in a statement: “We [remain] of the firm opinion that our FIT thermal printing plates do not infringe patent rights in the Netherlands.

"This is the first decision in the Netherlands that is negative and we will appeal. We remain confident that the final and conclusive decisions in the Netherlands, and Germany, will be favorable."

Hijazi also told ProPrint that "this legal mater has no relevance" in Australia and New Zealand as the patent is not applicable in those countries.

"In Netherlands and certain countries where this patent is registered, we will aggressively defend our position and focus all our effort to ensure a successful outcome for Xingraphics and all our partners and customers," he said.

"This is what the industry and our partners expect from us and unfortunately this is the price for being the youngest and most successful thermal plate manufacture apart from the main three suppliers."

Agfa said it would also target other competitors, including the Fuji and Kodak thermal plate products.

[Related: More international news]

This article originally appeared at printweek.com

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