Kroger Hit with Patent-Infringement Suit

CINCINNATI -- A lawsuit has been filed against The Kroger Co. here that alleges the nation's No. 1 grocery chain violated a patent with its private-label Everyday Living refill dusting cloths.

Polymer Group Inc. (PGI) a Charlotte, N.C.-based developer, producer and marketer of engineered materials, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Kroger, Inter-American Products Inc., and U.S. Nonwovens Corp. The suit alleges Kroger willfully infringed PGI's patent related to hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics with raised patterns.

PGI, which is being represented in the case by Robins, Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP, an intellectual property litigation firm, contended in the suit it had invested significant resources to develop successful programs based on its proprietary Apex technology, and ability to produce truly three-dimensional materials that have superior performance characteristics to other products due specifically to the images created. PGI's patents in this area relate not only to new value-added wipes applications, but also to a broad variety of other highly engineered consumer and industrial end-use markets, PGI said.