On December 5, 2022, the US International Trade Commission ordered to seize and forfeit containers of SPC flooring products imported by an international buyer from Georgia, since these products violated the General Exclusion Order regarding Unilin’s click SPC patents.

“The General Exclusion Order was issued by the US ITC on September 16, 2020, and since then, several seizure and forfeiture orders were issued by the ITC against companies that import patent infringing SPC products,” states John Haynes, partner of Unilin´s external US IP law firm Alston & Bird. 

“Unilin has been a pioneer in the research and development of flooring technologies since the mid-nineties. In the meantime, Unilin built a network of more than 350 licensed partners using one or more of Unilin’s patented technologies,” states Sophie Demuenynck, Legal Director of Unilin Technologies. “Protecting the business of these licensed partners is one of the cornerstones of our strategy, so we will spare no efforts to stop unlicensed infringing products that cause unfair competition for our partners. The General Exclusion Order, together with the renowned L2C label system, creates a level playing field for all our licensed partners, since it gives importers, distributors and retailers a straightforward tool to recognize legitimate products and to avoid legal actions.”