BURNSVILLE, Minn. and VENTURA, Calif. — After more than one year of litigation, Temp-Air has won judgment in its favor in Thermapure’s infringement suit over U.S. Patent Nos. 6,327,812 (the “’812 patent”) and 7,690,148 (the “’148 patent”). Click here to view a copy of the consent judgment.

Thermapure had accused Temp-Air of infringing both the ‘812 and ‘148 patents, through at least the sale and offer for sale of Temp-Air’s Thermal Remediation products and services, including Temp-Air’s bed bug heat treatment products and stored product pest heat treatment service.

Under a settlement between Temp-Air and Thermapure, on November 23, 2011 the federal district court in Minnesota entered a consent judgment agreed to by Thermapure that Thermapure’s two patents were not infringed by Temp-Air.  According to the judgment entered by the federal district court: “Temp-Air has not directly infringed the ‘812 and ‘148 patents through making, using, selling or offering to sell any Temp-Air product or service.”  The district court also entered judgment that “Temp-Air has not induced or contributed to and is not inducing to or contributing to the infringement of the ‘812 and ‘148 patents by another through any act of Temp-Air or sale or offer for sale of any Temp-Air product or service.” 

“This is an important milestone for us, and we are very pleased that, after several years of contrary allegations, Thermapure has now conceded that Temp-Air does not infringe these two patents,” said James Korn, CEO of Temp-Air.  “While Temp-Air respects the valid intellectual property rights of others, we have been telling our customers for some time now that Temp-Air does not infringe Thermapure’s patents.” 

Thermapure President and CEO David Hedman, responding via e-mail, said, “ThermaPure® previously understood that Temp-Air was using and recommending filtration with heat.  However, discovery revealed that Temp-Air was not in fact using or recommending filtration with heat.  Accordingly, based on Temp-Air’s representation to that effect and to end the litigation, Thermapure voluntarily agreed to a judgment of non-infringement before claim construction, summary judgment, or trial.”

The settlement does not require Temp-Air to pay anything to Thermapure or to take a license from Thermapure. The settlement also required Thermapure to dismiss with prejudice its suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Temp-Air for trademark infringement and unfair competition. That case was dismissed with prejudice on Nov. 23, 2011.