3M, Saint-Gobain settle patent suits

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — 3M Co. announced this week that it and Saint-Gobain have arrived at a settlement in a long-brewing patent dispute. The conflict centred on Saint-Gobain’s Norton Paint Systems brand of paint-spraying technology. 3M initially filed a patent infringement suit in France and Germany against the chemicals giant, which then itself countersued. According to a statement from 3M, the settlement includes the “resolution of all disputes and a release of Saint-Gobain’s NPS products under 3M’s paint spray technology related patents.”