Judge Finds Violations of P&S GFCI Patents

A judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a final decision finding violations of patents on ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) held by Pass & Seymour/Legrand (P&S), Syracuse, N.Y. The ITC issued exclusion and cease-and-desist orders regarding four China-based manufacturers and five U.S.-based distributors and OEMs.

In a final decision issued March 6 and posted on the ITC website at www.usitc.gov, the ITC affirmed an earlier decision by Administrative Law Judge Carl C. Charneski finding P&S's patents valid and enforceable, and that GFCIs manufactured by General Protecht Group, Shanghai ELE Manufacturing, Shanghai Meihao Electric and Wenzhou Trimone Science and Technology Electric, all based in China, infringed P&S's patents.

The ITC issued exclusion orders precluding the four manufacturers from importing the GFCIs covered by the patent, and cease-and-desist orders precluding U.S. distributors Cheetah USA Corp., Sandy, Utah; Colacino Electric Supply Inc., Newark, N.Y.; The Designer's Edge Inc., Bellevue, Wash., Nicor Inc., Albuquerque, N.M.; and Orbit Industries Inc., Los Angeles, from selling infringing GFCIs in the United States.