An action of false patent marking has been filed against Quality Gold, based in Fairfield, Ohio. The claim, filed by King & Kelleher, LLP attorneys representing Trent West, an inventor and owner of eight patents covering tungsten carbide jewelry finger rings and their manufacture, states Quality Gold has allegedly deceived the public by falsely advertising that a patent "was granted" when there is no valid patent covering the items as represented by Quality Gold.
"In reading the catalogs of Quality Gold, a retailer or consumer would be led to believe Quality Gold has been issued a patent, when in truth Quality Gold does not have an issued patent," states Edward King, the attorney representing Trent West. "By selectively using the words "was granted" in an openly advertised and distributed catalog is a blatant misrepresentation that not only misleads the retailer but also deceives the consumer."
The United States District Court, Northern District of California will review the claim (court case 3.11-cv-02531-JSW) for false patent marking arising under United States Code - 35 U.S.C. 292, which was originally enacted to protect patentees. It is considered false marking to mark as patented an unpatented article if done with the intent to deceive the public and, as such, is a fineable offense.
In this claim Trent West represents himself, the United States, the legal licensees of his tungsten carbide patents and the public in this case. West has, and will continue to, actively pursue infringers of patent numbers: 6,062,045, 6,553,667, 6,990,736, 6,928,734, 6,993,842, 7,032,314, 7,076,972, and 7,761,996.
Litigation continues against others infringing on his patents. He has also reached a number of settlements with both manufacturers and retailers of tungsten carbide rings.
Representing nearly 20% of the men?s wedding band market, tungsten carbide has become one of the most popular contemporary metals used in wedding bands. As the hardest metal used in the manufacture of rings, and second hardest material behind a diamond on the Mohs Scale of mineral hardness, tungsten carbide is also the most scratch-resistant metal on the jewelry ring market.
There are four legally authorized sellers of tungsten carbide rings protected by West?s eight patents relating to the concept and manufacture of tungsten carbide rings in the United States. They are Frederick Goldman, Inc, Benchmark, Jewelry Innovations and Fable.
For additional information on the eight tungsten carbide patents owned by Trent West, contact Edward King at 1-415-781-2888.
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