Albuquerque, NM, November 22, 2010 - The U.S. District Court has granted a motion by Upsite Technologies Inc. to re-open its lawsuit against brush manufacturer Sealeze for infringement of its intellectual property rights. The suit is seeking a judgment against Sealeze for damages and an injunction against further infringement.
In September 2008, Upsite initially filed its lawsuit against Sealeze, a business unit of Jason Incorporated. The lawsuit claimed that Sealeze had infringed upon Upsite Technologies' U.S. Patent 6,632,999, which covers the company's unique KoldLok® brush grommet line. The lawsuit was temporarily halted without prejudice to allow time for the US Patent and Trademark Office to review and reissue Upsite Technologies' patent. During the course of the reissue, Sealeze submitted alleged "prior art" in an attempt to invalidate the Upsite patent.
The US Patent and Trademark Office has now reissued the patent after considering Sealeze's claims of prior art. Upsite Technologies' original patent reissued on October 26, 2010 as RE41863. Re-issuance of the patent allows Upsite to continue to pursue protection of its unique brush technology and to seek an injunction as well as damages for infringement. Ken Sowards, the company's President commented, "Upsite develops innovative products to solve our customers' airflow management issues in data centers. We highly value our reseller partner relationships and we recognize that these litigation efforts are being made to protect our customers, partners, and Upsite itself. We will continue to pursue our legal rights against Sealeze and other grommet manufacturers as well as against those who sell, install, or use infringing products."
The KoldLok® brush grommet line created an entirely new product category utilizing closely packed, flexible, static-dissipative bristles to effectively prevent air leakage in data centers. KoldLok is typically installed in raised floors to seal cable openings and prevent cold air from escaping. The Sealeze product line includes brush products for a wide variety of applications including grommets made for sealing cable openings in a raised floor environment.