TUALATIN, Ore. - SawStop says the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has confirmed Judge Thomas Pender’s previous patent infringement findings against Bosch. The ITC will now consider Pender’s recommended next steps, including a cease and desist order issue against Bosch, regarding the importation of the infringing Reaxx saw and activation cartridges into the U.S., according to a release posted by SawStop on Businesswire on December 1, 2016.
But the ITC says at its site it has extended the investigation to later this month. "Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined to extend the target date for completion of this investigation to January 27, 2017." Read the PDF>>
Dr. Stephen Gass, SawStop’s president, said in the statement, "We regret that Bosch chose to introduce the Reaxx saw in disregard of our patents, leaving us with no alternative but to defend our rights in court. We have invested millions of dollars in research and development to protect woodworkers from serious injury, and we remain grateful for the U.S. patent system for protecting and encouraging our safety innovations.”
Although Bosch does not normally discuss details of litigation because we feel it is best handled in the context of the legal proceedings, we have seen statements about litigation concerning the Bosch REAXX Jobsite Table Saw that give a misleading impression of what has occurred.
At this time legal proceedings are still under way. The International Trade Commission (ITC) will review the initial determination provided by the Administrative Law Judge on Sept. 9, 2016, as well as additional arguments from the parties, before it makes any decision in the matter. The commission’s decision is not expected until early January 2017. Contrary to any other implication, the patent legal proceedings are ongoing and not final.
The Bosch Reaxx Jobsite Table Saw is based on patented technology developed by the Power Tool Institute and the engineering team at Robert Bosch Tool Corp. in Mount Prospect, Ill. We believe that advanced Reaxx safety technology does not violate any competitor’s intellectual property rights.
It is disappointing that a competitor is continuing its campaign to stop the sale of patented Reaxx technology to consumers. The patents asserted against Reaxx are based on applications filed more than 15 years ago; Bosch does not believe they apply to Reaxx technology. In addition, Bosch believes that if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had complete information it would not have issued certain patents in the first place.
The dispute heated up in July 2015, when SawStop filed a complaint with the ITC. Then in March 2016, SawStop won a procedural ruling from an administrative law judge (http://bit.ly/2fxhYX8). Defending itself against the patent infringement charges, Bosch has moved forward with the Reaxx launch (http://bit.ly/1ScxZNl). SawStop continued its efforts and in September an administrative law judge issued an initial ruling that Bosch’s Reaxx safety saw does infringe on SawStop patents (http://bit.ly/2cAn4Dp).
Bosch has defended its blade-braking technology against patent-infringement charges, and sells its Reaxx jobsite table saw in the U.S. and Canada. The Bosch Reaxx uses a piston mechanism to drop the blade below the saw tabletop. SawStop drops the blade and uses a jamming mechanism to stop the blade when flesh contact is detected.
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