Sandvik comments of Court of Appeal ruling in patent dispute with Atlas Copco

The Swedish Court of Appeal today announced its ruling in the dispute pertaining to two of Sandvik Tamrock’s patents for drilling rigs. The Court of Appeal ruled that one of the patents lacked degree of invention and, accordingly, should be invalidated in Sweden. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled that no infringement had occurred with regard to the second patent. “Of course, we had hoped for a ruling that correlated with the general practice of the European Patent Office, but we are also aware that this is a complicated case,” says Sandvik’s General Counsel Bo Severin. Sandvik will now review the court findings in more detail. Sandviken, 28 October 2005 Sandvik AB; (publ)