MENTOR, Ohio - Avery Dennison announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in Germany against UPM Raflatac, asserting that Raflex MDO infringes European Patent Number 2 049 333 B1, Avery Dennison’s patent on its Global MDOTM pressure-sensitive film product. In the suit, Avery Dennison asks the German court to prevent UPM Raflatac from manufacturing, marketing, or selling Raflex MDO without a license. Global MDO is protected under patents granted in both Europe and China, and has patent applications pending in the US and Brazil.

“Avery Dennison respects the intellectual property rights of other companies and individuals and expects others to do the same,” said Jeroen Diderich, vice president, global marketing, Avery Dennison Materials Group. “We attempted to negotiate a license agreement with UPM Raflatac, in the hope of avoiding litigation while allowing their continued supply of this product. Unfortunately, that effort was unsuccessful.”

Avery Dennison’s Global MDO (machine direction oriented) technology provides high conformability with a wide range of packaging shapes, while maintaining superior printing and decoration capabilities for converters and brand owners. The Company has invested many years and significant resources in the research, development, and production of its MDO (machine direction oriented) film portfolio. Global MDO film, launched in September 2011, is the latest development of the company’s highly successful MDO product family which has been marketed globally since 1995.