Chicago, Illinois. On October 30, 2009, Judge Ron Clark, sitting in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Texas, entered a judgment in favor of The Cummins-Allison Corporation, of Mt. Prospect, Illinois, against SBM Co., Ltd. (formally Shinwoo IT Co., Ltd.) of South Korea and Amro-Asian Trading Company of Hawaii, USA. Cummins-Allison received a favorable $12 million verdict when it proved that the South Korean company, along with Amro-Asian Trading Company, had infringed patents relating to high-speed currency processing equipment.
In addition to the approximate $12 million in lost profit damages, the judgment awarded Cummins-Allison an additional $970,000 in prejudgment interest and a permanent injunction preventing future sales, importation, and marketing of the infringing products in the United States, effective immediately as of October 30, 2009. The court also found that future sales of the infringing currency processing equipment constituted willful infringement, for which Judge Clark awarded enhanced royalty damages.
Cummins-Allison is an American-owned manufacturer of high speed coin and paper currency processing equipment. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services products worldwide to count, sort, and authenticate large volumes of currency. The company’s customers include banks, armored carriers, retailers, the gaming industry, government, and others. Cummins-Allison’s international headquarters and manufacturing are located in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, USA.
Cummins-Allison was represented by Nixon Peabody LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP, of Chicago, Illinois; The Heartfield Law Firm of Beaumont, Texas; and Siebman, Reynolds, Burg, Phillips & Smith LLP of Sherman, Texas.