A Legrand news release sent from the company’s North American headquarters late last month reported a judge dismissed Pass & Seymour from a patent infringement complaint. Lutron Electronic brought the case against Pass & Seymour.
Lutron’s complaint targeted Harmony dimmers from P&S. The official U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) announcement said, “The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain lighting control devices including dimmer switches and parts thereof that infringe patents asserted by Lutron. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and cease and desist orders.”
According to the Legrand news release, Judge Theodore R. Essex dismissed Pass & Seymour from the case on Nov. 2, 2011.
Pat Davin, vice president and general manager at Legrand/Pass & Seymour, said, “We are happy with the outcome. Pass & Seymour is a company that has built and maintained its reputation on innovation, good business ethics, customer centricity and collaboration with our wide range of partners. We are committed to protecting our own intellectual property while respecting the IP of others. Delivering industry leading products, like the Harmony Dimmer range will continue to be important for us.”
As initially reported in the ITCblog last summer, Lutron brought the patent infringement action against 10 parties, including Legrand. The Legrand news release did not comment on the other parties. According to a document found on the USITC.gov website, an evidentiary hearing in the case involving the other nine parties is set for March 22-28.
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