Court Finds That UBU Sports Willfully Infringed FieldTurf Patent

MONTREAL May 4th, 2017 – FieldTurf USA, a Tarkett Sports company and a global market leader in artificial turf, announces that on May 3, 2017, a court awarded it $780,000 in damages in its patent infringement case against UBU Sports, Inc.

The case was filed in May 2016 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Court ruled that UBU Sports had willfully infringed FieldTurf’s U.S. Patent No. 6,723,412 through the sale and installation of at least 13 artificial turf fields. The Court awarded damages in the amount of $260,000, which it trebled to $780,000 based on UBU Sports’s willful infringement. Additionally, the Court dismissed with prejudice all of UBU Sports’s counterclaims, which asserted that the patent-in-suit was not infringed, invalid, and unenforceable.

“We are grateful for the Court’s attention to our case and careful consideration of the record. While litigation was a last resort, the result confirms the importance of the ’412 patent’s technology in delivering innovative artificial turf systems that provide optimum playability, and safety” said Eric Daliere, President of Tarkett Sports. “This victory reinforces our commitment to protect our intellectual property and innovation,” added Marie-France Nantel, Tarkett Sports General Counsel.

FieldTurf was represented by Winston & Strawn LLP in this matter.