PALM DESERT, Calif., Feb. 24, 2004 -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a Consent Decree finding that Met-Pro Corporation (Met-Pro) committed multiple acts of infringement on a key USFilter patent for odor control scrubber technology (U.S. Patent No. 6,174,498).
The Court also found that the asserted claims of the patent are valid and enforceable, that multiple scrubber designs of Met-Pro's Duall Division infringed the patent, and that Met-Pro had induced infringement of the patent by its customers.
Based upon these findings, the Court permanently enjoined "Met-Pro and its officers, agents, servants, and employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this Consent Decree" from such further acts of infringement. Met-Pro has no right to appeal the Consent Decree. Separately, Met-Pro agreed to pay USFilter a confidential sum as part of a settlement of the litigation that will avoid the need for trial.
"As a company, we invest tremendous financial and human resources to develop the most advanced technology available for water and wastewater treatment. The odor control scrubber technology protected by U.S. Patent No. 6,174,498 is extremely valuable to our customers. We will continue to defend our rights in that technology against any infringement," said Frank Firsching, President of USFilter's Water and Wastewater Systems Group.
USFilter makes the technology covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,174,498 available exclusively in the LO/PRO® packaged odor control system from USFilter's RJ Environmental Products. Since its introduction in 1994, the LO/PRO® system has become the leading wet scrubber in the industry. More than two hundred LO/PRO® systems have been installed in communities and industries throughout North America and worldwide. USFilter's RJ Environmental Products specializes in developing, manufacturing, and supplying unique and cost-effective solutions to municipal and industrial air pollution problems.
"The LO/PRO® system is the most technically advanced and cost-effective scrubber available. The LO/PRO® system has helped literally hundreds of communities to solve their air quality problems," said Roop Jain, vice president and general manager of RJ Environmental Products and one of the inventors of U.S. Patent No. 6,174,498.
Millions of people and thousands of companies rely on USFilter every day to help them meet their clean water needs. Headquartered in Palm Desert, Calif., USFilter (www.usfilter.com) is a $1 billion water company with 6,000 experienced professionals dedicated to delivering cost-effective, reliable water and wastewater treatment systems and services to municipal, industrial, commercial and institutional customers worldwide.
