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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS
ANGELES, CA, May 16, 2003 - After more than two years of litigation, today the
United States District Court for the Central District of California threw out
all of the remaining patent infringement claims against Birchwood Lighting’s SYDNEY
Field Curvable lighting system following a four day trial in Los Angeles.
Judge Percy Anderson granted Birchwood Lighting’s motion for a directed
verdict based on the lack of evidence by Lighting World necessary to prove the
allegations of patent infringement. As a result, all claims against Birchwood
Lighting have now been dismissed without any finding of liability or any award
of damages.
History
Approximately
two years ago, on the final day of Lightfair International 2001 in Las Vegas,
Nevada, Birchwood Lighting, Inc. was served with a lawsuit brought by Lighting
World, Inc. (the parent company of Belfer Lighting).
The lawsuit alleged that Birchwood Lighting’s SYDNEY Field Curvable
lighting system infringed on two separate patents held by Lighting World/Bruce
Belfer. “We have maintained from
day one that the suit was a baseless attempt by Lighting World to eliminate us
as competition”, claimed Darrin Weedon, Birchwood Lighting’s President.
He went on to say that, “Anyone who has seen the two products will tell
you that SYDNEY is not only far different, but far superior to the other.
The wide acceptance of SYDNEY has shown that the lighting specification
community appreciates the innovative design of SYDNEY.
After two long years, this vindication marks a truly great day in the
history of Birchwood Lighting.”
In
a related matter, Birchwood Lighting recently received word from the United
States Patent and Trademark Office that it will be receiving a patent on the
VERSACURVE connector designed by Darrin Weedon.
Birchwood
Lighting was represented in the litigation by patent litigators Mark Wine and
Ellie Hourizadeh of the Los Angeles office of the international law firm
McDermott, Will & Emery.
About
SYDNEY
SYDNEY
is a field curvable lighting system utilizing compact fluorescent or
incandescent lamps.
SYDNEY can be curved to any desired shape in the field without the use of
any tools. Aside
from its limitless curvability, an important feature of SYDNEY is that the
overall length is also adjustable in the field without requiring any specialized
tools or cutting.
SYDNEY has been used in hotels, schools, hospitals, restaurants, high-end
residences and many other locations where superior light output is required in a
curved space.
About
Birchwood Lighting, Inc.
Birchwood
Lighting is a leading manufacturer of linear lighting products for architectural
applications. Other
fixture lines by Birchwood Lighting include ASHLEY
Shadow-Free Cove Lighting and The WP
SYSTEM Mild-to-Wild strip fixtures.
Birchwood Lighting is currently celebrating its 10th year of
business.
For
more information:
Contact
the factory at 714.550.7118
www.BirchwoodLighting.com
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