LONDON, Sept. 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has issued a press release announcing it will begin an investigation based on Hexagon Metrology's complaint and assertion that Metris N.V. and Mitutoyo Corporation and their respective U.S.-based subsidiaries have imported and offered for sale portable measuring arms in the United States that infringe on Hexagon Metrology's U.S. Patent No. 5,829,148.
The USITC will investigate the complaint pursuant to Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, which seeks to prevent injury to U.S. business and industry on the basis of unfair import competition and intellectual property infringement. Hexagon Metrology has requested the USITC issue an exclusion and cease and desist order.
"We are pleased that the USITC has agreed to investigate our complaint," said Bill Gruber, President of Hexagon Metrology. "We welcome fair competition, but we cannot abide by unfair expropriation of the very technologies which have established us as a leader in this industry."
The complaint to the USITC was filed in addition to a previously announced patent infringement suit filed by Hexagon Metrology against Metris N.V. and Mitutoyo Corporation in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
The USITC's release on the investigation can be found here: http://www.usitc.gov/press_room/news_release/2009/er0825gg1.htm
Hexagon Metrology
Hexagon Metrology is part of the Hexagon AB Group and includes leading metrology brands such as Brown & Sharpe, CE Johansson, CimCore, CogniTens, DEA, Leica Geosystems (Metrology Division), Leitz, m&h Inprocess Messtechnik, PC-DMIS, QUINDOS, ROMER, Sheffield, Standard Gage and TESA. Hexagon Metrology brands represent an unrivaled global installed base of millions of Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs), portable measuring systems and handheld instruments, and tens of thousands of metrology software licenses. Hexagon Metrology empowers its customers to fully control manufacturing processes that rely on dimensional precision, ensuring that products manufactured precisely conform to the original product design. The company offering of machines, systems and software is complemented by a wide range of product support, aftermarket and value-added services.
The Hexagon Metrology, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3454
Link to Press Release: