Pergo and Faus settle major legal disputes

Pergo and Faus have resolved and settled all their outstanding civil litigation matters pending in the United States, Sweden, and Spain. The parties have agreed not to disclose the specific terms or amounts of the settlement. The parties have, however, agreed to disclose that Pergo will license to Faus selected patents for molding, End Block matching and Embossed-In-Register technologies, and Faus will license to Pergo selected Embossed-In-Register patents. This settlement, as well as others recently concluded, and the reduction of costs associated with these cases, will positively impact Pergo’s operating results for the 4th quarter 2005. The full benefit to be realized from settling the various legal matters will exceed SEK 100 million for the 4th quarter.

“This settlement is consistent with Pergo’s business strategy of seeking cooperation rather than resorting to litigation as the first option. We do, however, remain firmly committed to protecting our intellectual property portfolio, which includes patent, trademarks and copyrights, and our overall business interests. We are pleased that both parties reached an agreement whereby we can focus on competing with each other in the marketplace as opposed to the courtroom,” says Tony Sturrus, President and CEO of Pergo AB.