Bloomberg.com reported on Friday that Remington Arms and Freedom Group CEO Ted Torbak has resigned effective 24 September and is taking a position with Cincinnati Bell Inc. Granted, Remington has filed for an Initial Public Offering, but Torbak is not a gun guy so we are not overly concerned with his leaving although we have heard that Torbak gave little notice of his departure. Remington continues to search for a new CEO.
In a deal that closed last week, Remington Arms-led Freedom Group Incorporated has purchased outdoor brand Mountain Khakis. No details on the deal have been released.
Remington has begun to release information on the new .45 R1 pistol based on the venerable 1911. In development for the past year, the long-awaited R1 is manufactured by Remington under contract from E-RPC. Sounds convoluted? It is.
Visit www.1911r1.com for more info.
On 14 January, 2010 RDMI (Robinsom Arms) filed suit in US District Court for Utah against Remington, Bushmaster, Rock River Arms, and Magpul Industries based on alleged infringement of their patent.
Below is the actual suit taken from court records.
Robinson Arms Lawsuit Alleging Patent Infringement
This is the third patent related suit filed against Magpul this year. The initial suit came from A.R.M.S. over their dual aperture rear sight followed by Vltor in October alleging violation of their patent on the Modular Firearm Buttstock.
Reading through the filing I find one thing a bit odd. It claims that the ACR has been offered for sale, which still has not happened, particularly in the state of Utah. Based on this it seems to me that the case was brought a bit prematurely and was staged to have the most dramatic effect during SHOT Show unless it was intended to delay the release of the ACR into the market. But then why include RRA?
These new rifles were spotted in the Remington Booth. Thanks to Ryan.
Robinson Arms, manufacturers of the XCR have filed suit yesterday in US District Court for Utah against Remington, Bushmaster, Rock River Arms, and Magpul Industries based on alleged infringement of their patent (Multi-caliber ambidextrously controllable firearm #7,596,900) issued 6 October, 2009 and initially filed in August of 2003.
Specifically, the weapons alleged to have violated Robinson’s patent are the Remington/Bushmaster ACR, Magpul Masada/Massoud, and the RRA LAR-8. All of these weapons feature a magazine release that is manipulated by the trigger finger from within reach of the trigger guard as well as a similar bolt hold open device. We have read the complaint and it is fairly ambiguous as the which patent claims they allege were violated.
Both Bushmaster and Remington are part of the Freedom group, owned by Cerberus Capital Management. So for taking on Freedom Group I give them an “E” for Effort. Of note is the timing of the suit, just days before SHOT Show as well as Robinson’s announcement on their website that they would be exhibiting after all in a booth (#20034) shared with Serbu.
Remington announced yesterday that they have purchased the assets of Advanced Armament Corporation, a firm specializing in suppressor manufacturing. Remington serves as the lead company of the Freedom Group and in turn is owned by Cerberus Capital Management.
Recently, Remington has introduced new tactical products including the Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR) as well as the Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) licensed from Magpul Industries and co-produced with fellow Freedom Group company Bushmaster. There have also been rumblings of a forthcoming Remington 1911 pistol. Remington has been courting AAC for some time and there has been a great deal of speculation in industry of an impending sale. Access to AAC’s suppressor technology gives the Freedom Group a leg up on much of the competition who must partner with outside companies to integrate such capabilities with their own products. Now, firearms and suppressors will be developed within the same family of companies.
Media reports indicate that Remington/Freedom Group have no intention of replacing AAC’s executive staff. Apparently, AAC will report to Remington’s Military Products Division, but current leadership will remain in place. On Monday evening AAC posted on their blog that they were excited about the purchase, would be moving to a larger facility soon, and would benefit from increased R&D funding.
AAC can be found on the web at www.advanced-armament.com. Remington is found at www.remington.com.
