Milacron and Mid-America Machining resolve law suit

US companies Milacron Holdings Corp. and Mid-America Machining have jointly announced that they have resolved and settled a patent lawsuit concerning blow moulded plastic dairy containers. The companies said the specific terms of settlement are confidential.

Mark Berry, President/CEO of Mid-America Machining, said: “We are very pleased to return to our position in the marketplace as the industry’s exclusive provider of our patented light weight container designs. Furthermore, we respect Milacron’s right to make and sell its alternatively-styled lightweight container designs. Both parties have a long history of serving the blow moulding industry, and we look forward to resuming business as usual as we each strive to support our customers in a very competitive marketplace.”

According to Dave Skala, General Manager of Milacron’s Global Blow Moulding business, “Our companies – Milacron and Mid-America – both know and respect each other very well. I said at the outset of this lawsuit that Milacron has always respected other company’s patents, without compromise, just as we expect other companies to respect our patents. I am pleased that we were able to resolve the dispute in a manner that clearly validated our commitment to those principles. I am happy that Milacron will be able to sell its advanced, proprietary, and non-infringing lightweight container designs freely to those customers that prefer our design.”

The patent referred to lightweight blow moulded milk jugs. In 2015, Mid-America Machining filed a law suit pertaining to US patents issued to Mid-America in 2013, 2014 and 2015 that covered a range of mould features on the jugs. According to the suit, Mid-America’s gallon jugs weigh 52 g, compared to 60 g for the average container. Milacron, in turn, denied the claim, and said its own lightweight jugs featured unique profiles that were unrelated to the Mid-America patents.