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| 2026-02-02, 09:10 |
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Starlinger: Interim Legal Success Against Chinese Machinery Manufacturers – Court Confirms Patent Infringement at First Instance
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The Austrian machinery and plant engineering company Starlinger has achieved an initial legal success in a patent dispute against two Chinese companies. In first-instance rulings, a Chinese court found that Wenzhou Huazao Machinery Technology Co., Ltd. and Wenzhou Zhengong Machinery Co., Ltd. infringed Starlinger’s patents. The decisions are not yet legally binding. The proceedings originated from a lawsuit filed by Starlinger in China in the summer of 2024. The action concerned three patents relating to the so-called “adstarKon” bag-conversion lines. These systems are used to manufacture “AdStar” block-bottom valve bags made of plastic tape fabric. In addition to the two machinery manufacturers, Starlinger also sued Zhejiang Liying Packaging Co., Ltd., a customer of the defendants, for using the contested technology. Advert At the heart of the dispute is a key technical component of the systems, the so-called bottom triangle former (also known as a wing opener). Starlinger states that it is the original inventor of this technology and holds corresponding patents in China as well as in other countries. According to the company, Huazao and Zhengong used this protected technology in their bag-conversion systems without authorization.
The competent court largely followed this line of argument. In its rulings, it determined that the defendant companies had infringed Starlinger’s patents. Accordingly, Huazao and Zhengong were ordered to cease the manufacture and sale of the infringing block-bottom valve bag conversion machines. As these are first-instance judgments, the legal dispute has not yet been concluded. A final resolution will depend on possible further judicial steps. Nevertheless, the current status of the proceedings marks an important interim milestone in Starlinger’s efforts to combat the unauthorized use of its technologies on the Chinese market. More information: www.starlinger.com |
Starlinger & Co Gesellschaft m.b.H., Vienna, Austria
