Jan 10, 2008

Langley in IP dispute with former Bradman Lake directors

Langley Holdings, the owner of packaging machinery firm Bradman Lake Group, is to pursue the directors of 3S Packaging Technology for "improper use of the company's intellectual property".

3S Packaging was set up this week by two former directors of subsidiary Bradman Lake GmbH, which engineering conglomerate Langley Holdings is in the process of winding up.

Friedrich Kern and Rainer Kaiser said they both held 20% stakes in Bradman Lake GmbH, which was part of the UK-based Bradman Lake Group that fell into administration last October and was sold by PricewaterhouseCoopers in a pre-pack arrangement to Langley Holdings.

A Bradman Lake Group spokesman said the decision had been made to "discontinue business" from its former German subsidiary because it had been "dogged with technical difficulties" and lossmaking since it was acquired in 2003.

"Our new parent company wasted no time in recognising that and moved swiftly to do what really ought to have been done by our former management sooner," the spokesman added.

The company will, however, maintain its office in Moscow, formerly run by Bradman Lake GmbH.

3S Packaging Technology said it would employ 40 people at its manufacturing base at Dietmannsried, which is 150km south-west of Munich.

The company will develop, produce and distribute standalone modules and complete packaging lines for food, confectionery and consumer goods.

The product range will include vertical bagging (VFFS), horizontal flow-wrapping (HFFS), top-load and end-load cartoning, robotic-based wrap-around and top load case packing equipment.

“We will be setting up partnerships with flow-wrapping suppliers and others over the next two to three weeks," said Kern, managing director for marketing and sales at the new company.
Source: packagingnews

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