Dallas, December 8, 2014 – On the 20th of November, the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) confirmed the validity of Pergo’s EP 1 304 427, after hearing the invalidity arguments of several opponents. This patent, which protects a one-piece fold-down locking of wood fiber flooring planks, has a priority date of February 1999 and was already confirmed to be valid in the first instance by the Opposition Board of the European Patent Office on March 15th, 2012.

This final decision from the European Patent Office confirms Pergo’s strong patent position regarding the fold-down locking technology. Pergo currently has more than 80 granted patents worldwide covering several aspects of the fold-down technology, and an additional 30 divisional applications should be granted in the near future. Several of these patents and patent applications enjoy a broad scope of protection seeing the early priority date.

About Pergo
Pergo is the world’s most recognized and trusted flooring brands. Pergo invented the category over 30 years ago and continues to innovate with around 500 patents and pending patent applications throughout the world. With operations and sales in North America, Europe and Asia, Pergo is dedicated to creating high quality laminate flooring with fashion forward designs and leading technologies. In addition to its successful laminate products, Pergo introduced a premium hardwood product into the US market beginning in 2004. Throughout North America, consumers can find Pergo products at leading home improvement stores and more than 5,000 independent specialty retailers. Pergo is part of Unilin, a Mohawk Industries company.

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