A few months back there was a bit of a premature back and forth between Bosch and SawStop however it looks as though SawStop was accurate in their early celebration. As the January 27th ruling is that Bosch must “Cease and Desist from conducting any of the following activities in the United States: importing, selling, marketing, advertising, distributing, transferring (except for exportation), and soliciting United States agents or distributors for imported [Reaxx] table saws.”
That seems pretty definitive of a win for the SawStop! Their patent will no likely be tested again for at least another 5 years (time left on 20 years patent) at which point it looks to be expiring. The Bosch team may just need to find a large warehouse and sit on the Reaxx Saws for a while. Certainly this will cause issue for the thousands who have already purchased the Reaxx Saws, no word yet from Bosch on how they take care of those customers who clearly will need additional cartridges but we are confident Bosch Tools will make things right.
Assuming this is not fake news or alternative facts, this is a big shock, having talked extensively with the Bosch folks they seemed very confident and these are some of the most conservative folks in the business with a massive multinational legal team. While SawStop is a small company they have never shyed away from the court room, certainly after this victory no one is going to challenge them in the near future.
Read more of the press release and if you are interested in SawStop Saws or have additional questions on the products give the experts at Ohio Power a call 800-242-4424.
ITC Rules for SawStop, Issues Cease and Desist Order Against Bosch
Bosch Must Stop Importing and Selling Reaxx and Replacement Cartridges
Tualatin, OR – January 31, 2017
On January 27th, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered Customs to exclude Bosch Reaxx table saws, and cartridges for those saws, from entering the United States, and the ITC issued an order to Robert Bosch Tool Corporation saying Bosch must “cease and desist from conducting any of the following activities in the United States: importing, selling, marketing, advertising, distributing, transferring (except for exportation), and soliciting United States agents or distributors for imported [Reaxx] table saws.” The ITC has now terminated its investigation against Bosch. (ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-965)
Dr. Stephen Gass, SawStop’s President, commented on the Commission’s decision: “When Bosch chose to introduce the Reaxx saw in disregard of our patents, they left us with no alternative but to take action in court. We have defended our innovation, our hard work, and our investments in developing SawStop technology, and we are pleased that the ITC ordered the exclusion of products that use our patented inventions without a license and confirmed the strength of those patents. We are grateful for the U.S. patent system for encouraging and protecting innovations and we look forward to continuing to supply the market with safer saws.”
