WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2015) — Valeo North America Inc. proved some but not all of its patent infringement allegations against Trico Products Corp. regarding Valeo's windshield wiper design, an administrative law judge within the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in an initial determination.
When Trico imported windshield wiper assemblies from Mexico, it violated Section 337 of the Trade Act in various aspects of Valeo's U.S. Patent No. 7,937,798 (“798”), Judge Thomas Pender ruled Oct. 22. But Trico did not violate Valeo's Patent No. 7.891,044 (“044”), he ruled.
The public version of Pender's initial determination was issued Nov. 16.
Valeo also failed to prove that Trico has a commercially significant inventory in the U.S., meaning that a cease-and-desist order is unnecessary in this case, Pender ruled. He also denied Valeo's motion for a 100-percent bond against Trico, but did recommend a limited exclusion order.
Valeo filed its complaint against Trico with the ITC in October 2014, three months after it filed a similar complaint against Federal-Mogul Corp. Valeo and Federal-Mogul settled their case in May 2015, according to Pender's order.
Federal-Mogul filed a Section 337 case involving Trico's windshield wiper imports from Mexico in May 2015. Federal-Mogul and Trico settled in July 2014, just before Trico signed a deal with Crowne Group L.L.C. to purchase Trico.