Bushnell Inc said it has settled its lawsuits with optics manufacturer Leupold & Stevens with regard to Leupold’s True Ballistic® technology and the Bushnell Angle Range Compensation technology.
In February, the two companies filed suit against each other for patent infringement; Leupold & Stevens sued Bushnell for patent infringement in the District of Oregon and Bushnell sued Leupold & Stevens for patent infringement in the District of Kansas.
TBR was introduced by Leupold in 2006 and uses an advanced algorithm to deliver ranging capability that is matched to a bullet’s ballistic profile. In its initial suit, Leupold alleged that Bushnell’s sales of range-finding products incorporating Angle Range Compensation infringed U.S. Patent No. 7,654,029 owned by Leupold.
In its response to Leupold's complaint, Bushnell denied any infringement. The companies agreed to dismiss the lawsuits after reaching an amicable settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but neither company will be required to discontinue selling any of its products.
“We are pleased with the settlement, because it allows our customers to go on using and enjoying Bushnell laser rangefinders with our patented ARC technology, and we can focus our resources and energy on further developing and marketing new and innovative products,” said Phil Gyori, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Bushnell.
Leupold also filed suit against Carl Zeiss Optical, Inc. for patent infringement concerning the TBR® technology, but dropped the suit in March after it was determined that Zeiss products don’t allow users to input ballistic groups and display holdover values at specific yardages.
