HOUSTON - Maumee, Ohio-based composite door maker Therma-Tru Corp., which recently won a favorable appeals court ruling on its patent infringement lawsuit against Peachtree Doors Inc., said it will seek a court order to stop production of Peachtree's Newport-brand door. The dispute centers on both firms' stainable doors that have a compression molded skin made of sheet molding compound and are stamped to look like wood grain. At the Builders' Show in Houston, Therma-Tru distributed a news release on the latest court ruling.
Therma-Tru originally sued Peachtree in U.S. District Court in Detroit in 1989, and, in 1991, a jury found that Peachtree's Newport door infringed on the patent for Therma-Tru's Fiber-Classic door. But the judge set aside the jury's verdict and ruled against Therma-Tru. Stephen Bores, Therma-Tru president and chief operating officer, said both companies appealed the case.
On Jan. 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington affirmed the jury's ruling that Peachtree infringed on Therma-Tru's 1984 patent. Peachtree has filed a motion asking the appeals court to reconsider its decision.
Therma-Tru said the case now returns to U.S. District Court in Detroit for a hearing to stop Peachtree from making the door and to determine damages.
A Peachtree official had no comment. Peachtree still makes the door. It has plants in Norcross and Gainesville, Ga.
