A regional court in Frankfurt /Germany has ordered MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology (Hochheim / Germany; www.mht-ag.de) to pay damages totalling EUR 8.25m (around EUR 7m, plus accumulated interest) to Canadian machinery group Husky Injection Molding Systems (Europe: Dudelange / Luxembourg; www.husky.ca) in a long-running dispute over intellectual property involving PET preform technology.

MHT, which includes businesses that formerly belonged to Husky, said it may appeal the decision. In 2005, the company was ordered to pay damages, but the size of the payment has just now been fixed. Chief financial officer, Christoph Kückel, termed the decision "unsatisfactory" and the size of the damage payment – which already has been transferred – "surprising." However, he said this will not negatively affect MHT´s financial situation. On the contrary, he said the mould-maker this year expects to post the highest operating result in its 10-year history. Judging from orders in hand, 2007 is expected to be equally good, he added.

The Hochheim company was founded in December 1996 by former employees of Husky´s tool-making operation, which was relocated shortly beforehand from Wiesbaden / Germany to Luxembourg. The legal dispute revolves around whether MHT leveraged Husky´s intellectual property. The Canadian group said CAD files had been stolen and used illegally for designing moulds. MHT stopped manufacturing the 48-cavity moulds for PET preforms in autumn 2001. The company said criminal investigations against it have been dropped and all lawsuits brought by Husky against MHT founding members dismissed.