STAR EnviroTech Wins Federal Patent Appeal From Competitor Redline Detection
February 08 2016 - 3:07AM
Business Wire
Global Diagnostic Smoke® Technology leader STAR EnviroTech, Inc.
has won the final U.S. patent challenge by competitor Redline
Detection, LLC, in the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In a
precedential 33-page opinion1, the Court fully upheld STAR's
"nitrogen smoke" patent. This technology is used by every major
automaker (OEM).
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STAR EnviroTech, Inc. has won the final
U.S. patent challenge by competitor Redline Detection, LLC. as the
US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has fully upheld STAR's
"nitrogen smoke" patent. STAR EnviroTech's Diagnostic Smoke(R)
automotive leak detection technology is approved/mandated by every
major automaker (OEM) and used by leading automotive aftermarket
equipment makers worldwide. (Photo: Business Wire)
Previously, STAR prevailed against three other Redline Detection
attempts to take STAR’s “nitrogen smoke” technologies for safer
EVAP testing: two patent re-examination proceedings and an Inter
Partes proceeding before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Patent
Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).2 Two other failed Redline Detection
attempts attacked two of STAR’s dye patents. STAR makes these safe,
industry-standard technologies available to leading tool
manufacturers serving every major automaker and the automotive
aftermarket. Twenty other STAR patents were unchallenged by Redline
Detection.
"This Appellate Court victory, coming on the heels of our five
prior patent challenge wins, reaffirms that neither Redline nor its
customers can use our patented 'nitrogen smoke', or our 'smoke dye'
technologies”, said STAR EnviroTech CEO Jim Saffie. “We’ve worked
hard to secure our U.S. and international patents. We invented this
technology and we have an ethical obligation to our distribution
partners to guard those patents. They’ve made an investment in us
and our technologies. We will protect those investments.”
STAR EnviroTech, the inventor of Diagnostic Smoke® Leak
Detection Technologies, worked in collaboration with various
partners including Ford, GM and Chrysler, through the OEMs’ USCAR
organization, to develop a universally-accepted vehicle fuel
evaporative (EVAP) and vacuum system leak detection technology.
Today, STAR Technologies are OEM-mandated worldwide, available in
more than 125 countries and more have been sold by leading tool
manufacturers and distributors than all competitors’ products
combined.
STAR’s “nitrogen smoke” patent (6,526,808) uses an exclusive
method of producing smoke with any inert gas to virtually eliminate
the risk of a vehicle fuel tank fire or explosion during an EVAP
test. Papers published by SAE International3 and other empirical
data support this method as safer than testing with shop air in a
fuel tank. Adding air containing oxygen to a volatile environment
such as a fuel tank can create a flammable mixture inside the fuel
tank, but “nitrogen smoke” eliminates the risk of fire during the
testing process.
STAR’s “smoke dye” patents use a unique, non-contaminating,
non-permanent UV dye to mark the spot of the leak(s), making even
hidden leaks easy to find.
Headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, STAR EnviroTech,
a privately-held corporation, develops award-winning,
industry-standard technologies for leak testing in fuel evaporative
(EVAP), vacuum/induction, turbo, and other vehicle and non-vehicle
systems.
STAR technologies are inside smoke machines from the leading
tool manufacturers supplying the automotive, truck, industrial,
marine, and aviation industries, including the Canadian Air Force
and the U.S. Military.
For more information on STAR EnviroTech, go to:
http://www.StarEnviroTech.com
See also:
http://knobbe.com/news/2016/01/knobbe-martens-client-star-envirotech-wins-affirmance-ipr-decision-finding-patent-valid
1 Redline Detection, LLC V. STAR EnviroTech, Inc. [opinion]
Appeal Number: 15-1047.2 (USPTO Reexams: 90/011,916, 90/011,544,
90/011,545, 90/009,683 and Case: IPR2013-00106)3 SAE International
Papers:
- Fuel Tank and Charcoal Canister Fire
Hazards during EVAP System Leak Testing- Oxygenated Fuel
Considerations for In-Shop Fuel System Leak Testing Hazards
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PRNewsBureauPhil Sasso, +1 847-250-7445phil@prnewsbureau.com