Swedish company RollsRoller has successfully defended patent rights on its Flatbed Applicator in France.
After a long legal process, a French company was found to be infringing on the patent belonging to RollsRoller and will now be providing compensation. This precedent has set the stage for imminent defences of the RollsRoller patent here in Australia and many other countries around the world.
The machine’s invention is actually a story in itself. Storms on the Swedish west coast in 1996 had wreaked havoc with the signs at many of Sweden’s largest petrol stations. Flexible face signs instantly became en vogue and a young sign-maker named Göran Johansson was soon faced with an order to make 100 new signs very quickly. Watching his team labour with the time-consuming work, he realised there had to be a better way of making them.
Thinking that a table with a traverse beam and a roller would make it much easier to apply material to the underlying surface, he made the first ever flatbed applicator. Using this rudimentary machine, the remaining 80 signs were completed in a fraction of the time it took to make the first 20. And so, the revolutionary RollsRoller had completed its first job.
Fast forward almost two decades later, and Spicers is the premium distributor of RollsRoller in Australia.
‘The RollsRoller Flatbed Applicator is a fantastic machine and we are pleased to be distributing the original, premium flatbed technology,’ says Peter Maginn, Product Manager from Spicers in Sydney.
Customers readily agree with Peter.
‘I don’t know how we could live without it now,’ comments Bruce Scott of Composite Images. ‘I saw it in operation at FESPA last year and knew I had to get one. We had it installed on a Friday morning and by midday it was in full production. It’s such a simple machine and so logical. We haven’t had a single stuff-up and it’s so much easier than what we were doing before. Of course, the money saved from the speed is just incredible.’
Another user from a major sign company concurs. With four RollsRollerS in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney respectively, they have a lot of good things to say about the machine. ‘The RollsRoller improves efficiencies - it really speeds up the process,’ the company spokesman comments. ‘The dry application, rather than wet, is also a huge bonus. It turns a two-man operation into a one-man operation.’
Dave Collins at Barrier Signs is a self-proclaimed advocate for the machine, having three of them. ‘It’s a quality piece of gear,’ he observes. ‘Seeing the RollsRoller in action in Europe sold it for me. I bought my first machine three or four years ago and have stuck with the brand since. They really are brilliant.’
Spicers
www.spicers.com.au
