U.S.-based global manufacturing company ITT Corp. announced Jan. 7 that it has settled a patent infringement dispute with lubrication products specialist Summit Pump Inc., regarding products manufactured by ITT's subsidiary Goulds Pumps.
The settlement follows a lawsuit that ITT and Goulds Pumps launched in 2012 in federal court against Wisconsin-based Summit. ITT alleged that Summit had violated its patent for Goulds Pumps' TaperBore Plus vaned seal chamber and i-Frame bearing frame.
The settlement brings an end to the legal procedures against Summit, but the company will have to pay an undisclosed sum to ITT. Under the terms of the agreement Goulds Pumps will remain the only company producing and supplying i-Frame products, ITT said in a statement.
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Commenting on the settlement, Robert Pagano Jr., president of ITT's Industrial Process business and Goulds Pumps Inc, said that the company was satisfied with the outcome. The actions of ITT and Goulds Pumps in this case were evidence of their commitment to take all necessary measures to protect ITT's assets and its innovations in particular, he added.
Goulds Pumps' i-Frame technology has numerous applications in pumps across many industries, including oil and gas, mining, chemical, power generation, pulp and paper, among others.