Ruling says Bosch infringed on SawStop patent

An administrative law judge issued an initial ruling that Bosch’s new Reaxx, a flesh-detecting job-site table saw, infringes on SawStop patents.

SawStop LLC sued Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany and its subsidiary Robert Bosch Tool Corp. for patent infringement. The lawsuit is before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

On Sept. 9, Administrative Law Judge Thomas B. Pender issued an initial ruling that the Bosch Reaxx saw infringes patents related to SawStop’s implementation of active injury mitigation technology and components thereof.

“Based on the foregoing, it is my Initial Determination that there is a violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1337, in the importation into the United States, the sale for importation, or the sale within the United States after importation of certain table saws incorporating active injury mitigation technology and components thereof, in connection with the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,895,927 and 8,011,279,” Pender wrote in his ruling.

SawStop is asking the ITC to order U.S. Customs to exclude Bosch’s Reaxx saws from entering the United States and to order Bosch to stop advertising and selling the saws and associated parts, which might include replacement cartridges essential to the saw’s operation.

“The technology in SawStop saws wouldn’t have made it to market except for the protection offered by the United States patent system,” SawStop president Stephen Gass said in a statement. “We have invested millions of dollars in research and development to protect woodworkers from serious injury, and our inventions have been awarded numerous patents. Bosch chose to introduce the Reaxx saw in disregard of our patents and we were left with no alternative but to defend our patent rights in court. We are very pleased Judge Pender confirmed that Bosch infringes our patents.”