Polartec reported on July 4 that it filed a patent infringement complaint with the German District Court in Düsseldorf against Pontetorto and its German sales agency, Christian Weichert Internationale Textilvertretungen. In the suit, Polartec is demanding compensatory damages and an injunction to prevent the sale of the infringing products. At issue is the Italian company's Technostretch products. Polartec is complaining that they infringe on a European patent (EP 1 312 710 B1) for grid-back, knit construction textiles that is exclusively licensed to Polartec. The company points out that it invented modern synthetic fleece and that it holds over 135 patents worldwide. Pontetorto and Weichert confirmed this week that the statement of claim had been served to them. They said they had started assessing the allegations and were preparing to defend their rights.

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