WATERTOWN, Mass., Oct. 25, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exergen Corporation recently alleged infringement of United States Patent No. 7,787,938 in a lawsuit against SDI Diagnostics, Inc., supplier of the Astratemp and Trutemp non-contact thermometers. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement in which the defendant agreed to withdraw the thermometers from the market immediately. The new patent, issued in August 2010, adds to the substantial intellectual property invented and owned by Exergen related to non-invasive thermometry technology.
The recent lawsuit is a continuation of Exergen's long-standing policy of protecting its patented technology from infringers, and serving notice to potential competitors that they need to develop their own technology for non-invasive thermometry without employing Exergen's patented technology.
The company, recognized as a world leader in medical and industrial non-invasive temperature technologies has been developing and patenting its non-invasive thermometer technology for three decades. Exergen's Founder and CEO Francesco Pompei, Ph.D., a Harvard research scientist, is the inventor of over 60 issued United States patents. "I began working on non-invasive thermal sensing technology in 1980," says Dr. Pompei, "and since then have developed non-invasive temperature sensors that are used in a multitude of applications, from home and professional medical thermometers to heat sensors used by NASA." Dr. Pompei adds, "Filing and settling this Complaint in order to achieve a positive outcome was predicated on the importance of protecting our technology and our company."
Exergen's patented award-winning TemporalScannerTM temporal artery thermometers are US-made, used in more than half of hospitals and millions of homes, with retail models being sold in Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, Costco, Sam's Club, Rite Aid, Kroger, Babies R US and Toys R Us. Temporal artery thermometry is rated as the No. 1 preferred thermometry method by pediatricians according to a Pragmatic Research survey, and Exergen is the No. 1 retail thermometer brand according to Nielsen and IRI data.
The Exergen Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10660