HWG Hallwood Grp. Incorporated

Brookwood Companies, Inc., a leading integrated textile company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Hallwood Group Incorporated (NYSE Amex: HWG), announced today that on Monday, November 18th, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed the Southern District of New York’s ruling that Brookwood did not infringe certain patents belonging to Nextec Applications, Inc.

Nextec filed suit against Brookwood in the Southern District of New York (Case No. 07-cv-6901) over six years ago, claiming that Brookwood infringed several patents related to internally-coated webs. Nextec was seeking a permanent injunction and millions of dollars in damages for the alleged willful infringement stemming from the use and manufacture of Brookwood’s Agility and Eclipse Storm-Tec X-Treme fabrics, which constitute two levels of the U.S. Military’s Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System.

The protracted and highly contentious litigation resulted in a 2010 summary judgment order that Brookwood did not infringe certain Nextec patent claims and culminated in a five-week bench trial in 2012 addressing infringement of the remaining patent claims. At the close of trial, the Southern District ruled that “the issue of infringement is solved rather directly and rather simply,” namely, that while the patents were valid, Brookwood did not infringe them. The District Court’s ruling was appealed. On November 6th, a three-Judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral argument; twelve days later, the three-Judge panel summarily affirmed the Southern District’s decision.

Amber M. Brookman, President and CEO of Brookwood commented, “This is a great day for Brookwood. While litigation can be a long, costly, and arduous process, we at Brookwood do not take threats of patent infringement lightly, and today we feel vindicated.”

MORE ABOUT BROOKWOOD

Brookwood services a diverse global marketplace with a wide variety of technically oriented products. Our capabilities support all market segments, including Military, Consumer, Industrial and Medical. Brookwood's marketing and product development is geared to provide solutions for customers both domestically as well as internationally. The technical capabilities of our manufacturing facilities to dye, print, coat, and laminate are widely recognized. We are known for extensive, in-house expertise in high-tech fabric development. The Brookwood Laminating facility produces ASSAULT® and other waterproof/breathables, as well as barrier fabrics, heat sealable and weldable fabrics, vinyls and sail cloth. Kenyon Industries produces state-of-the-art fabrics utilizing the latest technologies and processes in dyeing, printing, finishing and coating. Our lab is qualified to test to ASTM, AATCC, ISO, NFPA and Federal Test Standard Methods. As a qualified military supplier, Brookwood is recognized as a leader in the market development of specification fabrics.

Forward-looking Information

Certain statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, may include forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties that face the Company; such statements may contain such words as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” and similar expressions, and are based on management’s current assumptions and expectations. Risks and uncertainties that the Company faces include, but are not limited to: our dependence on a limited number of third-party suppliers for raw materials, our reliance on certain key customers, the impact of potential changes in military procurement practices or regulations and global capital and credit market conditions, and our ability to protect our intellectual property rights and the outcome of the current patent litigation. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information regarding these and other factors can be found in the filings that The Hallwood Group Incorporated, our parent company, makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

Brookwood Companies, Inc.Mary Ann C. Ball, 212-551-0100MaryAnn@brookwoodcos.com

Hallwood (AMEX:HWG)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Okt 2024 bis Nov 2024

Hallwood (AMEX:HWG)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Nov 2023 bis Nov 2024