Legal Matters, Recalls &
More
Induction lighting technologies
lawsuit—American
Induction Technologies, which makes induction lighting, is involved in a lawsuit
with OSRAM Sylvania. According to one release we’ve seen:
OSRAM Sylvania has
accused AITI, which manufactures high-technology induction lighting fixtures,
of infringing a patent issued to OSRAM Sylvania in the late 1990s. In its answer
to the complaint and counterclaim, AITI denies OSRAM Sylvania's allegations,
and challenges the validity of the patent.
Tedmag.com has before it several releases; read on for more details:
Nov. 16, 2010—AIT “prevails
in court” over OSRAM motion for summary judgment
Jan. 25, 2010—AIT “responds
to allegations” from OSRAM
Dec. 1, 2009—OSRAM Sylvania “files
suit to enforce induction lighting patent”
Legrand/Pass & Seymour
keeps winning—the
International Trade Commission in 2009 “ruled that a number of China-based manufacturers
of ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and their U.S. distributors violated
P&S’s patents relating to GFCI technology,” according to a Legrand/P&S
release.
In an appeal, “The
Court of Appeals found all of P&S’s asserted patents valid and enforceable,
and held that the vast majority, seven of nine manufacturers and their U.S.
distributors, infringed P&S’s patents.”
While the Court’s decision
said two companies did not infringe on the P&S patents, the company officially
said in the release that it “firmly believes that aspect of the decision is
erroneous and intends to request a rehearing by the Court of Appeals.”
Recall: Xantrex Grid Tie
Solar Inverters—from
Schneider Electric’s Xantrex Technology subsidiary. About 25,000 of them are
on the market; learn more here.
Warning on EMT elbows and
bends—from UL, the
warning reads that EMT elbows and bends “manufactured by Patton international
Ltd.…may not be adequately protected against corrosion.” Details are provided here.
Acquisitions
ABB/BALDOR—for the second time, ABB has extended its
tender offer for all outstanding shares of Baldor Electric. As of Jan.
19, ABB had received more than 42 million shares of Baldor, or 88.8% of those
outstanding. A separate Jan. 20 ABB release noted that the U.S. Dept. of Justice
had cleared the deal, meaning it does not have an “antitrust” reason to call
a halt to the transaction.
COLEMAN/TRC—Coleman Cable, in a Jan. 18 release, said
that it had offered to buy Technology Research, which has shares traded on NASDAQ.
Coleman said the price offered “represents a premium of 41% to TRC’s closing
share price on Jan. 14, and is 46% higher than “TRC’s average closing share
price for the 20 trading days” ending that date.
Coleman claimed (in the release) that it has “made numerous efforts” to
get the board of TRC interested in a deal, including a letter sent on Dec. 2,
2010. Coleman already owns more than 320,000 shares of TRCI; there are 6.7 million
outstanding, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Although Coleman said
TRC’s board said it would respond by Jan. 21, tedmag.com could find no official
info on such a response. However, the company did adopt a “shareholder rights plan”—also known as a “poison pill”—which, in
theory, makes a hostile acquisition difficult, if not impossible.
What does the stock market have to say? TRCI stock closed at $5.16
on Jan. 21, below the $5.50 offering price. One week earlier, on Jan. 14 (before
Coleman made that letter public), TRCI’s closing price was $3.90. Trading surged
on Jan. 18, with TRCI shares reportedly changing hands on that day.
ROCKWELL—the company said it will buy Hiprom (Johannesburg,
South Africa), a process control and automation systems integrator with 100
employees that serves mining firms digging for coal and precious metals.
EV Charging Station News
Car Charging Group/TV—releases
from Car Charging Group, which has stock listed on the OTB Bullet Board, has
posted two releases in January on company executives appearing on television—one
on Fox News, the other on MSNBC.
Coulomb/MasterCard—Coulomb Technologies in November “unveiled
the first ChargePoint Network charging station…that accepts MasterCard PayPass
contactless payments.”
Chevrolet/Coulomb—according to Coulomb Technologies, maker
of ChargePoint charging stations, Chevrolet will offer those stations to its
Chevy dealerships. According to this item, SPX (“Chevrolet’s home charging partner”)
will deliver and install the ChargePoint units at the dealerships.
ECOtality/Best Buy—reading
the Ford/Leviton item below you’ll notice the involvement of retailer Best Buy.
Add to that: Back in October, ECOtality, a supplier of EV charging stations,
said that it had agreed “to provide Blink…charging stations at select” Best
Buy stores (12 of them). Note that ECOtality recently received a $10 million
investment from ABB as reported on tedmag.com last week.
Ford/Leviton—a release out Jan. 13 noted that Ford “jointly developed” a home
charging station with Leviton for the Ford Focus Electric. The items are to
be sold via Best Buy—for a reported “recommended price” of $1,499—and offer
complete consultation and installation services through its Geek Squad subsidiary
and third-party licensed electrical contractors.
Of note: One of
the main advantages of the charging station is the nonpermanent-style installation.
The unit plugs into a 240V outlet instead of being hard-wired into the electrical
breaker box. The nonpermanent-style design makes removal and replacement as
simple as unplug and plug back in should the owner move.
From Mike Mattel, vice
president and general manager of Leviton’s Commercial & Industrial business
unit: Our Evr-Green electric vehicle charging products…add another solution
to our growing portfolio of green products and services. These innovative solutions
will help promote the adoption and expansion of electric vehicles.
GM/Envision Solar—GM
has picked the Envisiontrak tracking Solar Tree, from Envision Solar International,
to use in its CleanCharge solar-powered EV charging station, the smaller company
said.
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