Waregem, Belgium—Unilin Technologies, the IP division of Mohawk Industries, has received the written decision in which the Opposition Division of European Patent Office confirmed the validity of its patent covering Unicoat technology. The written decision clearly confirms that this patent (EP 3 294 969) is not limited to the specific Unicoat technology, but also covers other waterproof coatings that protect the edges of HDF-based floors from water damage, the company said. Similar patent protection of the different types of edge coating exists in USA and other countries.
“Unicoat is an amazing technology,” said Floris Koopmans, sales director, Unilin Technologies. “It outperforms all other solutions in the market. Even in tests of more than a week, Unicoat protects the floorboard from water damage. The importance of this patent victory cannot be underestimated. The decision does not only reinforce the protection on this unique Unicoat solution, it also strongly supports our position that other different waterproof coatings for HDF-based floors in the market today are covered under our patent coverage. We are in the process of finalizing agreements with many big industry players that want to use the Unicoat technology, so we are looking forward to a broad adoption of yet another Unilin technology in our flooring industry.“
In January of this year, Unilin Technologies said it entered into a partnership agreement with the machine supplier Schiele Machinebau GmbH for the further roll-out of the technology.