Baychar Inc, and Baychar Holdings LLC have filed a number of suits recently, all revolving around the “810” patent held by the companies. So far, Outlast, Frisby Technologies, Salomon, Black Diamond Equipment, Burton, Deckers, New Balance, and Nordica USA have all been named as defendants.
In court document obtained by SEW, Baychar stated that all of the defendants sold goods which infringed on Baychars patent for three-layered composite of moisture vapor transfer material, foam, and non-woven where the foam was treated to have “reversible enhanced thermal properties,” or phase change materials.
The court documents further state that all parties involved sold merchandise with either Schoeller ComforTemp Three-Layer Composites, or Outlast Three Layer Composites. Baychar is also trying to expand their patent to include both Schoeller and Outlast Two Layer Composite, when combined with a third layer during the manufacturing process for the final product.
Other reports state that in February of 2003, Schoeller Textil AG, Schoeller USA, and Schoeller Frisby Technologies settled a similar case with Baychar by securing a licensing deal and paying damages to the company.
Baychar appears to be going after any company that has used Schoeller or Outlast PCM composites in apparel or footwear. It is unclear what the original licensing agreement between Schoeller and Baychar covered, but the court case leading up to this agreement clearly leaned in the favor of Baychar.
