WESTFIELD, N.J. — Standard Textile has filed suit against Sobel Westex in a New Jersey federal court in a dispute over a patent on woven sheeting.
Standard Textile alleges that Sobel Westex’s “Dolce Notte” sheets infringe on a Standard Textile patent issued in 1996 that covers woven sheeting fabrics made with spun-cotton warp yarns and texturized multifilament filling yarns. Standard Textile says it uses this technology in the manufacturing of several hospitality sheets and pillowcases.
“The patent laws are intended to encourage and reward creativity and technological innovation, and we will not allow others to profit unlawfully by selling products that infringe on our patents,” says Gary Heiman, president and chief executive officer of Standard Textile. “We will vigorously defend our intellectual property rights by pursuing all available remedies from Sobel Westex for its infringement of these rights.”
Sobel Westex denied the validity of the Standard Textile patent in a written statement.
“Sobel Westex intends to vigorously defend its legal rights in the New Jersey matter and to pursue all available claims against those that unjustly use the legal system for improper, unwarranted or anticompetitive purposes,” the statement says. “As of today and based on all facts known by the parties, strong evidence exists that the broad, claimed invention in the Standard Textile U.S. Patent 5,495,874 has been well known, used by others or otherwise described in printed materials long before the Standard Textile patent application was ever filed.
“Although Sobel Westex had hoped to reach an amicable, mutually respectful resolution of this lawsuit before today, it cannot permit any competitor to use litigation as a means to compel payments or make other unfair demands.”
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