ADT-Sensormatic wins patent lawsuit

BOCA RATON, Fla.—ADT Security Services, the largest provider of Sensormatic Electronic Article Surveillance solutions, announced in January it has won a "major lawsuit" against The Tag Company, a competitor that was infringing on the company's patents. In its decision, the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, immediately prohibited The Tag Company from making or selling any of its products in the United States that were produced using confidential information about patent-protected Sensormatic products. This includes the company's Series 58 acousto-magnetic label. "While The Tag Company is not a large competitor," said Ann Lindstrom, director of corporate communications for ADT Security Services, "ADT and Sensormatic take any patent infringement or unfair trade practice seriously. We believe products with misappropriated technology, such as the Series 58 label ... do not have the quality and price-performance of our authentic Sensormatic products. The implication for retailers is that their loss prevention efforts could be compromised by not using genuine Sensormatic components." Lindstrom said, "we are continually assessing the protection of our intellectual property," and that "Sensormatic routinely evaluates potentially competitive products." The Series 58 label raised concerns for the company when it was launched, and one of The Tag Company's consultants was Dennis Gadonniex, a former Sensormatic engineer. It was found that Gadonniex "violated his prior employment agreement by misusing confidential information," and he was ordered to pay court costs and attorney's fees.