Ardagh to ‘vigorously’ appeal $50m US patent ruling

Ardagh Group said on Friday it planned to "vigorously appeal" a US ruling that the metal and glass packaging producer owes $50 million (€40.6 million) to a company which claimed its US glass containers unit infringed a patent over technology to turn mixed coloured glass into recycled glass of a single colour.

The Delaware district court made the ruling on Thursday, which confirmed a jury verdict reached by the same court in April last year.

Ardagh, headed by Irish financier Paul Coulson, completed the purchase of the US glass business at the centre of the case, Verallia North America, in April 2014, less than two weeks after the patent holder, Green Mountain, lodged its legal complaint in the US.

“Ardagh continues to disagree with the jury verdict and strongly believes that the case is without merit,” the company said on Friday. “Ardagh will therefore now vigorously appeal the verdict to the federal appeals court.”

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Ardagh reiterated that, irrespective of the outcome, it is covered by an indemnity from the former owners of the business. However, the prior owner, French group Saint-Gobain, has previously told The Irish Times that Ardagh has no comeback in relation to the case under any indemnity agreement linked to the sale.