And Now; Let the Battle of Carpet Cleaning Glides Begin!
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Tomorrow morning in a California courtroom, a legal battle gets underway that will determine the rights of carpet cleaners everywhere to use a glide of their choice on any wand of their choice. The final result of this battle will determine if carpet cleaners in America(and many other countries) must use a design that does not infringe on 2 existing patents of HRI, parent company of Chemdry for the balance of the 10 years those patents have left to run.
In one corner we have HRI(Harris Research, Inc), owner of those 2 patents that is determined to protect the intellectual property those 2 patents represents, and determined to do what is necessary to prevail in the battle. This battle had it's origin in Nevada 6 years ago at the first Connections event in September 2003 when I brought 200 Superglides to Las Vegas to unveal at that show for the first time. At that time I was under contract with the Bridgewater Corporation(Parent of Bridgepoint and other companies) to help in the marketing of the glide at the Convention. But it was not to be. On the afternoon of September 29th at the start of the show I received a phone call on my phone from HRI informing me that HRI believed the glides were an infringement of their 2 existing patents, and that if they were shown both myself and Bridgewater would be sued. That resulted in the glides being pulled from the display and ultimatly the cancellation of my royalty agreement at Chicago a couple of weeks later, because the deal became unworkable with the threatened suit.
In the other corner is Mytee Products INC, a corporation determined to overturn those 2 patents, run by an owner, John Labarbara that believes they never should have been granted in the first place, and who has spent 100's of thousands of dollars of his company's resources to have them dismissed. John believes that carpet cleaners everywhere should have the right to buy any kind of glide they like, made by whoever wants to make them and is putting his dollars on the line to see that that happens. He is a man that will not stand to be bullied by other corporations no matter what their size and reputation.
Who will prevail? I don't know. The trial is expected to run anywhere from 5 to 8 days in length, which means it will run to next Monday or possibly as late as Thursay, and then will be decided by a jury. So by next Friday there is a good chance we will know the result of this 6 year struggle. Stay tuned.
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