Appeal against Unilin’s Chinese patent rejected

The Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has confirmed patent CN 101023230 held by Unilin in a decision published on 24 March. An appeal filed against the patent, which unconfirmed reports suggest was submitted by a Chinese industry association and cited prior art issues, was thus rejected. It is not yet clear whether this decision also involves a modification to products or process details as the written statement is not yet available.

Issued in 2005 and valid until 2025, this patent describes a derivation of Unilin’s Uniclic technology that connects different elements using angling. This technology is used both in laminate and wooden flooring and for new materials (SPC, LVT and WPC). The underlying European patent EP 0 843 763 for the Uniclic technology used in hard flooring – which locks different flooring elements using a single-piece tongue/groove connection in a glue-free method – expired at the start of June 2017 after 20 years in effect.

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