News Release
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Company Contact: Ron Kearnes |
Azotic’s Patent Portfolio Is Stronger Than Ever
• U.S. Pat. No.5,853,826, for its MYSTIC FIRE® products and many of its other enhanced gemstone products.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,014, for new single color gemstone enhancements.
• U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,275, for new single color gemstone enhancements.
• U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,404, for the MERMAID CRYSTAL® gemstone material technology.
• A pending U.S. patent application for its new multi-color gemstone enhancements including Kaleidoscope® Bi-Color.
Rochester, Minn. – January 10, 2009 – Azotic Coating Technology, Inc. is the leader in enhancing the all-natural beauty of colorless topaz and other gemstones – its high-quality Surface Enhanced Designer Gemstones™. Through a unique process, the Enhanced Designer Gemstones™ reflect a kaleidoscope of brilliant color with an underlying, dominant color theme radiating from its core.
Azotic has four United States patents for its enhancements on gemstones, gemstone materials, and methods for enhancing the appearance of gemstones, and it vigorously protects its patent rights against infringers in all parts of the supply chain for jewelry and gemstones. Its attorneys have sent over one hundred cease and desist letters to retailers, distributors, manufacturers and others. In most cases, Azotic Coating reached an amicable end to the infringement with the infringing party either deciding to stop buying and selling infringing stones or beginning to purchase its gemstone enhancements from an authorized Azotic reseller.
In each case, Azotic Coating has successfully stopped the sale of infringing gemstones.”
...
“One defendant asked the Patent Office to reexamine and declare Azotic's first patent invalid. After reviewing all the... information, the Patent Office rejected their attempt.
Azotic's first patent is now stronger than ever as a result of the more intense scrutiny it received...”
For the more recalcitrant infringers, Azotic has filed patent infringement lawsuits— five over the last four years—to enforce its rights. In each case, Azotic has successfully stopped the sale of infringing gemstones.
While some infringers claimed they could invalidate Azotic Coating’s patents, stating, among other things, that they have “uncovered some shocking information that has serious impact on the validity” of the patents, all attempts to invalidate Azotic patents have failed. One defendant asked the Patent Office to reexamine and declare Azotic’s first patent invalid. After reviewing all the “shocking” information, the Patent Office rejected their attempt, and decided that Azotic’s patent is valid. Azotic’s first patent is now stronger than ever as a result of the more intense scrutiny it received from the U.S. Patent Office. (Interestingly, the same defendant has been attempting to receive a patent for gemstone enhancements for years with no results, but they continue to advertise “Patent Pending” while Azotic’s valid patents are issued and enforced.)
Although Azotic prefers to resolve disputes without using the courts, it will defend its intellectual property and ask courts to award monetary damages against all infringers.
Azotic asks for your cooperation in identifying parties who are selling gemstones that infringe one or more of the Azotic patents. Unscrupulous individuals may claim that Azotic’s patents are invalid, that they have their own patent or a pending patent, or that their coating is different from Azotic’s patents. Some have gone so far as to imitate Azotic’s packaging and sell infringing stones as actual Azotic products. If you are aware of a party who is not an authorized Azotic Coating reseller, and is offering to sell gemstones that derive color from a thin film coating on the pavilion of the stone, please let us know immediately. Those gemstones may infringe one or more of the Azotic Coating patents.
If you have a question as to whether someone is providing you with an infringing stone, check the stone under a microscope. If the pavilion looks different than the table and you can look through the table of the stone and see the color on the pavilion facets, it is most likely a gemstone that derives its color from a thin film coating on the pavilion. Azotic Coating will be pleased to analyze it and provide you with an opinion on infringement. If the stone infringes, Azotic will not pursue you for past purchases as long as you agree not to purchase infringing stones in the future (whether or not you buy from Azotic).
Patent pending claims do not validate a product from infringing existing patents. Patent pending means a patent has been applied for, but not approved by the US Patent Office. The reason for an application not being approved may be backlogs at the Patent Office, or problems with the claimed invention not meeting the criteria required for a valid patent.
Founded in 1993, Azotic Coating Technology, Inc. is a Minnesota Company providing manufacturing jobs in America. The company's products include more than 2,000 unique color products used by jewelry manufacturers, and its processes use only high quality metals, oxides and nitrides to create nearly limitless design options for manufacturers. Azotic products can provide increased sales and reduced cost when compared to other higher cost colored gemstones. The company's products are available to jewelry manufacturers and retailers through a network of authorized resellers within the gemstone wholesale industry. For help finding an authorized reseller, you are invited to send a request to info@azotic.us