NEWS / Press Releases

US Patent and Trademark Office Soundly Rejects Crane Materials International (CMI) '667 Patent.

November 2007 Cartersville, GA

At Northstar's request, the US Patent and Trademark Office has reviewed the validity of CMI's '667 patent and has rejected 100% of the claims contained within the patent.

"This is a solid decision by the USPTO regarding a patent that should have never been issued in the first place", said Jeff Moreau, Northstar President.

View the USPTO Document.

The patent was issued because prior art that would have affected its issuance was either not disclosed or was unavailable at the time of the application.  The USPTO aslo cited an affadavit signed by a co-inventor as something it relied on in it's prosecution of the '667 patent. In that affadavit, the co-inventor states that a product that would have prevented the '667 patent from being issued didn't exist, when in fact it did.

"This is a very good thing for the industry.  CMI will have one chance to provide a rebuttal and save all or a part of '667, but overcoming such a crushing decision is tantamount to being forced to scale a very tall, 90 degree hill", said Moreau. 

CMI and its '667 patent appeared to gain considerable notoriety when CMI flooded the sheet pile industry with a form letter from its attorneys threatening litigation against companies purchasing sheet piling from Northstar, or manufacturing or purchasing sheet piling, that they contended infringe the ‘667 patent.