Gray Manufacturing Company, Inc. has announced that on August 24, 2010 the U.S. Patent Office awarded Reissued Patent No. RE41,554 E to Gray Manufacturing for its wireless Coordinated Lift System.
This reissue pertains to U.S. Patent No. 6,634,461 issued on October 21, 2003. In awarding this Reissued Patent, the U.S. Patent Office refused Netherland-based Stertil-Koni’s request to cancel all claims in Gray’s existing patent.
The Reissued Patent includes and validates numerous critical claims that are the strength of this protected technology. Gray’s patented coordinated lift system uses wireless transceivers to communicate height signals between lift units for coordinated lifting of large, heavy vehicles which eliminates the need for wired connections between the units.
Through the technology covered by this patent Gray has removed all communication cables between the columns thus allowing truly independent operation of each of the lift columns by its customers.
Stet Schanze, president of Gray Manufacturing, stated, “We were certainly expecting the reissue of this patent. We are extremely pleased with the number of allowed claims awarded in this latest action by the U.S. Patent Office. The bottom line is that Gray Manufacturing has patented property rights that allow lifts to operate and communicate by wireless signals.
“No one else owns such patent rights, and others can only legally utilize this patented technology if they are licensed by Gray. At this point only Vehicle Service Group, through its Rotary Lift brand, has been licensed by Gray to utilize this technology. Gray has and will continue to aggressively protect its intellectual property rights against any company that violates its patents, including its ongoing litigation with Stertil-Koni.”
