Powerscreen win appeal on $31.6m patent infringement judgment

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has rejected a 2011 ruling that Terex GB Ltd  (dba “Powerscreen”), Terex Corporation (“Terex”) and two US Powerscreen dealers infringed a Metso patent relating to the folding method and mechanism for screener conveyors. The Appeals Court found that the Metso patent was invalid because it was an obvious combination of two previous devices manufactured by the patentee’s company.

In an effort to counter Powerscreen’s arguments that the patent was obvious, Metso argued that Powerscreen copied the Metso design and that Powerscreen’s machines enjoyed substantial commercial success. The Court specifically found that there ‘was no evidence that Powerscreen copied’ any Metso machine and nothing linked the success of the Powerscreen machines to the patented features. Because the Court found the patent invalid, it did not address the other issues presented on appeal. 

Kieran Hegarty, president – Terex Materials Processing, said: ‘We are very pleased with this result. The court confirmed that the Metso patent was an obvious combination of existing ideas and that Powerscreen did not copy Metso’s design. Powerscreen has a tradition of designing and manufacturing industry leading mobile crushing and screening equipment for the quarrying, mining and recycling industries. We vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's rights.’

While Metso have stated that they will seek a reversal, Powerscreen are confident that the Court will stand by its decision.