Hicksville, N.Y.—A decade’s worth of legal wrangling and lawsuits over whose patents are legitimate came to an end. Unilin and Välinge, holders of the world’s most widely used mechanical locking systems, agreed to set aside their disputes in favor of creating a framework allowing easier access to their respective technologies for future licenses.

The two companies had signed a preliminary agreement at Domotex in Hannover. A couple of weeks later at Surfaces, Darko Pervan, Välinge’s CEO, told FCNews, “The time is right to see if we can settle things. Both parties want it done, as we realize this type of understanding will benefit the entire industry.”

Finalized in April of 2007, the agreement relates “to glueless joining systems for hard flooring panels” and puts an end to almost 25 legal cases over the validity and infringement on the companies’ respective patents in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S.

Unilin and Välinge have also created a framework that allows for future licensees to cross license patents for each company’s respective glueless technologies. As a result, both parties said they will be able to more aggressively develop and market glueless systems without patent disputes.

News of this accord comes on the heels of each company resolving two other patent disputes that have occupied much of their time, effort and money in recent years, one involving Välinge and Pergo, the other Unilin and Beaulieu International Group (BIG).

These deals, along with some others that have been reached by Välinge and Unilin individually, virtually put an end to all lawsuits concerning mechanical locking systems used in the industry.