Lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics Co., Coopersburg, Pa., said it has filed actions before the International Trade Commission and the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Pass & Seymour/Legrand, Syracuse, N.Y., and several other companies over what Lutron says are violations of its patents on a line of dimming controls.
In the suit, Lutron claimed that Pass & Seymour and the other defendants manufacture and sell products made to look like Lutron’s Diva line of dimmers. The Pass & Seymour lighting control products accused of infringement include certain dimmers from its Harmony line.
The respondents named in Lutron’s filing for ITC action include Pass & Seymour, a subsidiary of Legrand Holding, SA of Limoges, France; Zhejiang Yuelong Mechanical & Electrical Co. LTD; Zhejiang Lux Electric Company LTD; Wenzhou Huir Electric Science & Technology Co LTD; American Top Electric Corp.; AH Lighting; Elemental LED, LLC, and Westgate Mfg., Inc.
Pass & Seymour said it is unfamiliar with the other companies named in the suit. “We are unaware of these companies and have no relationship with them. Our Harmony dimmers were developed and are manufactured at our own facilities,” Pat Davin, vice president/brand general manager for Pass & Seymour/Legrand, told Electrical Marketing.
Davin said the Harmony dimmers are based on Pass & Seymour’s own work. “The Harmony dimmer line was developed by Legrand/Pass and Seymour’s new product development team, utilizing our own designs and intellectual property,” he said. “Legrand/Pass & Seymour has built its reputation on innovation and has a history of both respecting intellectual property of others and vigorously defending its own intellectual property portfolio.”
Lutron’s complaints request that Pass & Seymour and “the other Chinese manufacturers be enjoined from manufacturing, selling or importing the knock-off dimmers. Lutron also asks that the defendants be ordered to pay damages, including damages for willful infringement of that patent.”
“Lutron annually invests millions of dollars on hundreds of U.S.-based engineers to research and develop elegant and innovative products which it protects with its patents,” said Joel Spira, Lutron’s chairman, founder and director of research. “Regrettably, Chinese manufacturers and U.S. importers who want to cut corners simply copy Lutron and infringe its patents. They must be stopped.”