SWM and Delfortgroup have signed a world-wide license agreement that ends their intellectual property dispute over lower ignition propensity (LIP) cigarette paper.
The license agreement announced today settles all current litigation and administrative matters pending between the two companies in the United States and Europe concerning SWM's LIP patents. It is a non-exclusive patent license agreement regarding the world-wide production and sale of print banded LIP papers, that would be encompassed by SWM's patent portfolio.
The license agreement provides for a guaranteed annual minimum royalty of USD 4 million for each of the first five calendar years commencing in 2011, and running royalties as well as an amount to settle any claims related to past sales.
The agreement is effective immediately and will continue concurrent with the life of SWM's licensed patents, which expire between 2014 and 2023. (ci)