design following the settlement of Ashbury suit
Quebec, Canada – May 16, 2013 – CADEX Inc. (CADEX Defence, Inc.) and Ashbury International Group, Inc. recently settled a nearly 18-month legal battle concerning modular sniper rifle stock design elements. Following the May 2 settlement, CADEX retains the production and sales rights to its existing Strike Dual Rifle Chassis design and will continue manufacturing and selling the dual rail rifle chassis system in the United States and globally.
CADEX announces the end to a patent infringement suit brought by Ashbury, who alleged that the earlier generation single rail CADEX Strike rifle chassis had infringed an Ashbury patent. CADEX ceased production of its single rail rifle chassis in mid-2012 when CADEX unveiled the Strike Dual Rifle Chassis design. During the litigation and settlement agreement between the two parties, Ashbury acknowledged that CADEX’s current Strike Dual Rifle Chassis design does not infringe the U.S. patent rights Ashbury holds on its single rail design. In the settlement agreement, Ashbury also agreed that CADEX will not be required to pay Ashbury any royalty or other license fees for CADEX’s continued manufacture and sale of its Strike Dual Rifle Chassis System and further agreed that CADEX’s distributors will not be required to pay any royalty or license fees related to such sales.
“CADEX intended to fight this case until realizing that there was a superior design – the CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis – and that it was not infringing technology. Once CADEX realized they had a superior technology, that clearly did not infringe the Ashbury patent, CADEX had to make the best business decision as to how to settle the lawsuit”, said CADEX CEO Serge Dextraze. “CADEX’s priority was to make sure that CADEX can continue to move forward with its Strike Dual Rifle Chassis product line in the United States and globally, and CADEX has accomplished this goal. CADEX’s second priority was to settle the lawsuit over technology, which had become irrelevant to CADEX’s product line, and CADEX was able to do that inexpensively. It is already well known that the CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis is the best product ever shown and offered on the market. With its recoil mitigation capabilities and attractive and unique style, we are not surprised the CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis attracts that much attention. The CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis is the most unique high-end product ever produced and available on the market.”
As a condition for settlement, Ashbury insisted that CADEX consent to a final judgment stating that Ashbury’s U.S. patent rights on the single rail design are valid and that CADEX’s older single rail chassis design infringed these U.S. patent claims. To entice CADEX’s consent to the judgment, Ashbury offered to settle for a single payment of $50,000 rather its previous demand of $325,000. The wording of the final judgment was carefully tailored to make it clear that only the CADEX Strike single rail design was capable of infringing Ashbury’s U.S. patent, which requires a single, unified or monolithic rail across the top of the chassis – this is not the case with the CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis.
“The average patent case costs in excess of a million dollars to resolve through trial, making these nuisance value settlements attractive. To be clear, there was no trial or court hearing on the merits of anyone’s claims in this case. The resolution was entered into voluntarily. Happily, and with great relief for everyone, it is now clearly established that CADEX has, and will keep, all patents rights for the CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis product line”, said Steven G. Hill of Hill, Kertscher & Wharton, LLP, who acted as lead counsel for CADEX during the case.
As of today, CADEX proclaims that both CADEX and its distributors will no longer be distracted by the now-settled litigation and instead may concentrate on the manufacture and sale of CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis system. CADEX has designed and manufactured various chassis style stocks since 2005, which have been and continue to be used by multiple military and law enforcement agencies. Many of CADEX’s early generation design elements were also chosen for incorporation into the current US Army XM 2010 sniper weapon system.
CADEX’s current Strike Dual Rifle Chassis design features major enhancements that provide operators a solid, accurate chassis-type firing system that requires no tools to adjust the stock for length and comb height. The CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis also features a unique ability to be disassembled for operator-level field maintenance. The keys to this capability are a two-piece top rail and a removable lower frame with magazine well: these advancements simplify disassembly without the need to remove either the rifle action from the chassis, the day sight or rear portion of the receiver rail. Since introducing its first sniper rifle chassis system, CADEX continues to develop improvements and innovative state-of-the-art rifle chassis designs. These are and will continue to be exemplified by the current CADEX Strike Dual Rifle Chassis.
