Arlon Successfully Resolves Patent Infringement Litigation

On April 30, 2010, Arlon, Inc. successfully resolved the patent infringement litigation originally brought by World Properties, Inc. and Rogers Corporation (collectively, “Rogers”) in December 2008.

On October 9, 2009, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Arlon’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Roger’s patent infringement complaint. In granting Arlon’s motion for summary judgment, the district court agreed with Arlon that Rogers’ claims of patent infringement were barred by a covenant not to sue contained in a 1996 asset purchase agreement entered into by the parties.

Left to be resolved following the district court’s opinion were various counterclaims brought by Arlon against Rogers. Pursuant to the April 30, 2010 Settlement Agreement and Release, Rogers, without admitting liability, agreed to pay Arlon an undisclosed sum to resolve those remaining counterclaims, forego any appeal and bring the lawsuit to final resolution.

Commenting on the opinion and settlement, Robert Carini, President of Arlon’s Materials for Electronics Division stated: “We were very pleased with the district court’s decision and the final dismissal of Rogers’ patent infringement claims. The court’s opinion combined with the settlement payment paid by Rogers to Arlon supports Arlon’s position from the outset of the litigation that Rogers’ lawsuit was completely unfounded. Regrettably, this situation could have been easily resolved without legal action.”

Arlon’s Materials for Electronics Division is a major manufacturer of specialty high performance laminate and prepreg materials for use in a wide variety of PCB (printed circuit board) applications. Arlon, Inc. is an indirect subsidiary of WHX Corporation (NASDAQ (CM): WXCO).