Best Manufacturing Settles Patent Infringement Cases With Several Leading Suppliers

MENLO, Ga. and LEXINGTON, Mass. -- Best Manufacturing Company, a leading industrial and medical glove maker, and its parent company, Tillotson Corporation, announced today the settlement of patent infringement cases pertaining to its patent for

thin disposable nitrile gloves (US Patent No. Re. 35, 616).

Settlement and licensing agreements were completed with Medline Industries, Inc., Shen Wei USA, and Asian manufacturers Zhangjiangang Dayu Rubber Products Co., Ltd., Zhenjiang Kangda Emulsion Co., Ltd. and Zhenjiang Suhui Latex Products Co., Ltd.  This followed previous settlement and license agreements with High Five Products, Inc. and Omni International, LLC.  While the financial terms of those settlements are confidential, all of those agreements have included consent injunctions respecting the validity and enforceability of the patent and admissions of infringement.  Sempermed USA, Inc. has also entered into a settlement and license agreement concerning the Tillotson patent and all the terms of that agreement are confidential.  The initial patent litigation with Safeskin Corporation resulted in a confidential settlement and license agreement in November 1999.

"We will continue to aggressively defend our intellectual property rights, support and protect our current licensees and grant licenses where appropriate," commented Bill Alico, president and CEO of Tillotson Corporation. "It's absolutely critical to the future development and advancement of our industry that full protection of intellectual property and technology patents is strictly enforced."

The patent involved concerns the low modulus formulation that makes the Best disposable nitrile glove uniquely comfortable and fatigue-reducing, and which is at the heart of its flagship brand N-DEX. The N-DEX is the world's first disposable nitrile glove and its family has expanded to include the N-DEX Free, the world's first accelerator-free disposable nitrile glove, and the N-DEX NightHawk, the world's first stealth-black, accelerator-free disposable nitrile glove.

Source: Best Manufacturing Company