Court Allows Ropak to Sell Shipping Bins

Ropak Corp., a designer and manufacturer of containers, said Friday that a competitor’s contempt-of-court claim in a patent lawsuit was rejected by a federal judge in Detroit, enabling Ropak to continue selling its version of a collapsible shipping bin.

U.S. District Judge Julian Cook decided that Ropak had not violated an earlier injunction by modifying and selling the shipping container at issue in the patent suit.

The collapsible shipping container, which is plastic and designed to hold manufactured parts, was patented by Perstorp, Xytec Inc. in Tacoma, Wash. After being used, the container is folded and returned to the shipper to be used again, thus saving landfill space.

In 1988, Ropak acquired a Detroit company called JIT Inc. that previously had settled a patent infringement suit brought by Perstorp over JIT’s use of the collapsible bin. JIT paid $200,000 and undisclosed royalties to settle the suit.

Ropak inherited the design from JIT, and began making a collapsible box, which eventually accounted for about 10% of Ropak’s $100 million in yearly sales. In 1991, Perstorp sued and won a preliminary injunction against Ropak, which contends that its box is based on earlier, unpatented designs. The case is expected to go to trial later this year.

Meanwhile, Ropak said it redesigned the box and began manufacturing and selling the new version. In March, Perstorp accused the Fullerton company of contempt for allegedly violating the court’s injunction. The judge, however, ruled Thursday that the modified container was no longer the same container at issue in the suit, and therefore, Ropak wasn’t in contempt.

“We are glad the judge agreed with us,” said Ronald W. Cameron, a Ropak spokesman. “He basically doesn’t think we are infringing.”