Coolcore today filed suit against Grabber (Civ. No. 1:13-cv-345), a wholly owned subsidiary of Heatmax, Inc., and Perfect Fitness (Civ. No. 1:13-cv-347), a division of Implus, in the United States District Court of New Hampshire. The lawsuit alleges Grabber and Perfect Fitness infringe upon Coolcore’s “process of making a fabric” patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,440,119, for thermal management including the cooling of an object, such as a person’s skin.
The patent covers the manufacturing of a chemical-free cooling fabric that transfers moisture away from the skin, while regulating the movement and evaporation of that moisture throughout the fabric. As part of the infringement case, Coolcore has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against both Perfect Fitness and Grabber to stop the sale of their ‘cooling’ towels. Perfect Fitness distributes the “Cooling Towel” online and through Costco. Grabber’s “Magic Cool” towel is sold online and through various outlets, including The Home Depot.
“Coolcore is setting the worldwide standard in performance fabric cooling and it’s incredibly important that we protect our intellectual property so we can continue to innovate and lead the industry,” commented Justin Cupps, Coolcore president.
Prior to Coolcore’s technology, cooling fabrics were made using chemicals, polymers, gels, crystals or phase changing materials. The fibers used to create Coolcore’s technology are all biologically safe and hypoallergenic. The patented Coolcore technology delivers three distinct functions – wicking, moisture circulation and regulated evaporation – all of which combine to reduce the fabric’s surface temperature up to 30 percent below ambient temperature. In addition to the cooling benefits, the material is significantly drier due to its non-cling, non-saturated nature, and because it is chemical-free, the cooling benefit never washes out.
MISSION Athletecare, a leading sports innovation company, has exclusive rights to distribute the Coolcore technology in the U.S. for certain product categories. The MISSION EnduraCool Instant Cooling Towels, powered by Coolcore, was the first of many launches through the partnership and debuted in sporting goods, specialty retailers, home improvement and national retail chains this year.
Coolcore is the first U.S. Company to obtain the Hohenstein Quality Label “Innovative Technology” for the textile sector. This testing utilized Hohenstein’s newly developed cooling test, the “WATson”, that has now been submitted to the universal standard testing authorities as the first test that measures a fabric’s ability to not only manage moisture, but also measure the cooling power of a fabric.
