A federal Bankruptcy Court hit Weyerhaeuser Co. yesterday with a nearly $461 million judgment in connection with a disposable-diaper business that the forest products company unloaded more than a decade ago. Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser said it plans to appeal the decision, issued by a judge in a federal court for the Northern District of Georgia. While the verdict is more than double the $199 million after-tax profit that Weyerhaeuser reported for the fourth quarter, the company said it hasn't set aside any money to cover the judgment because it believes the decision will be reversed and there is a "high likelihood" it won't be required to pay the award. The Bankruptcy Court case concerns Paragon Trade Brands, a maker of private-label disposable diapers (sold by grocery stores and other retailers under their own brand names) that Weyerhaeuser spun off as a publicly traded company in the early 1990s. Rival diaper manufacturers Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble filed patent infringement suits against Paragon because of certain design features of its products. Weyerhaeuser says the two companies had made the allegations before the Paragon spinoff but it rejected the claims.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 12:15:26 am into the following categories: In The News

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