Mills & Reeve secures resounding High Court victory for Kohler Mira in patent infringement claim against Triton
Mills & Reeve has successfully represented market leading shower designer and manufacturer Kohler Mira (Mira) in its patent infringement claim against Norcros Group (Triton).
The dispute concerned Mira’s dual outlet electric shower technology and Triton’s DuElec range of showers which was held to infringe Mira’s patent GB 2,466, 504 (the Patent).
Mira commenced proceedings in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in December 2022 claiming Triton had infringed the Patent. Triton denied infringement and counterclaimed for revocation of the Patent.
The trial took place on 8 and 9 July 2024. In a judgment, which was handed down on 16 December 2024, Her Honour Judge Melissa Clarke held Mira’s Patent to be valid and infringed. HHJ Clarke was satisfied that the inventive concept of the Patent was sufficiently inventive to deserve the monopoly protection of the Patent and held that the relevant claims of the Patent (namely 1, 4 and 17) were:
- novel over the prior art
- inventive
- not invalid for lack of sufficiency
and that each of the products of the DuElec range fell within the scope of protection of the claims 1 and 4 of the Patent on the basis of normal construction and so infringe the Patent.
Claire O’Brien, Head of Intellectual Property Litigation at Mills & Reeve commented: “We are delighted to secure this resounding High Court victory for Mira. Mira is a highly innovative business with IP at its heart. It is willing to protect that investment by taking enforcement action through the courts when necessary. This win confirms Mira’s position as innovators and is a further illustration of the suitability of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court as an effective forum in which to litigate such disputes.”
Emma Foster, Managing Director of Kohler Mira, added: "We are thrilled with the fantastic result of our case against Triton, which has been ongoing for 2 years. Kohler Mira invests significantly in research and development in the UK; one of the guiding principles of our company is to live on the leading edge of design and innovation, and it’s vital that this is backed with a strong commitment to enforce our intellectual property. Consequently, we will always act to vehemently protect that investment, and our customers, if our intellectual property rights are infringed. We would like to extend our thanks to the legal team at Mills & Reeve and Three New Square IP for helping us to secure this comprehensive victory.”
The judgment is subject to appeal.
Kohler Mira was represented by Mills & Reeve LLP, and Douglas Campbell KC and Thomas Lunt of Three New Square IP.
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