Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.
Issue link: https://cement.epubxp.com/i/64524
NEWS SCOPE BY CP STAFF CTS Cement prevails in decade-long Ultimax patent litigation Ending a 10-year-old patent litigation against CTS Cement Manufacturing, Cy- press, Calif.-based producer of Rapid Set Cement, plus Chairman Edward Rice and a number of customers, U.S. District Court for the Central District of Califor- nia Judge Andrew Guilford ruled that Rice and CTS have a shop right in the patent they allegedly infringed. The plaintiffs were Ultimax, Hassan Kun- bargi, Heartland Cement Sales Co. and the K.A. Group. Under the law, this shop right gave CTS and Rice a free license to practice the patent for the duration of its existence. The Court further ruled, as additional grounds supporting its decision in CTS's favor, that Ultimax had also unreasonably delayed fil- ing its suit to the defendant's prejudice. The Court found that this delay, along with other factors, also combined to bar Ultimax from asserting infringement claims against CTS pursuant to the "doctrines of laches and equitable estoppel." In 2002, Ultimax and Heartland Cement sued CTS Cement in Federal Court, alleg- ing infringement of 47 claims in three patents. Following a lengthy legal battle, CTS successfully prevailed on all claims but one. This single claim of the 556 patent went to two jury trials in 2011, the first of which resulted in a mistrial because the judge became ill. The second trial left a jury divided on several signif- icant issues. However, Judge Guilford ruled last month that CTS has an irrevo- cable and royalty-free right to practice the alleged invention. The Court ruled that the evidence conclusively demon- strated that Kunbargi used CTS's facili- ties, resources and personnel to develop the patent at issue. CTS President Jerry Hoyle expressed gratitude that the company prevailed in this matter. "CTS is vindicated by the Court's finding that we have shop rights in this alleged invention. The innova- tions in cement technology that Mr. Kunbargi claimed to have pioneered would not have been possible without the financial and scientific resources [we] provided him while he was working for CTS," he said. This CTS victory follows another Ulti- max loss in California state court, where it had claimed that CTS had misappropri- ated trade secrets belonging to Ultimax and committed unfair competition. CTS Cement was represented by Richard Leonard of Leonard, Dicker & Schreiber LLP, and Thomas Gray of Orrick, Herring- ton & Sutcliffe LLP; Ultimax was repre- sented by Saied Kashani. $500K SETTLES CLAIMS OF RUNWAY PAVING CONTRACTOR'S ALLEGED DBE FRAUD Cleveland-based Anthony Allega Cement Contractor Inc. will pay the United States $500,000 to resolve Department of Justice allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims surrounding com- pliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. Allega was the prime contractor on a new runway at Cleveland's Hopkins Inter- national Airport from 2001–2006; con- tract terms required it to comply with DOT DBE regulations and accurately re- port DBE participation. The United States alleged that Allega claimed mate- rials and services were provided by a company known as Chem-Ty Environmen- tal. Justice officials contend Chem-Ty was merely a "pass through" entity used to make it appear as if a DBE had per- formed the work. "The Disadvantaged Business Enter- prise program helps businesses owned by minorities and women work on federal construction projects," says Stuart Del- ery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Divi- sion. The government's claims were based upon an investigation by his divi- sion, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, DOT's Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Federal Avi- ation Administration. "Prime contractors and subcontractors are cautioned not to engage in fraudu- lent DBE activity and encouraged to re- port any suspected DBE fraud," says Michelle McVicker, OIG regional special agent in charge. "Our agents will con- tinue to work with the Secretary of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Ad- ministrator, and law enforcement and prosecutorial colleagues to expose and shut down DBE fraud schemes through- out Ohio and the United States." PCA's Sullivan: 2012 shipments looking better than first forecast Stronger than expected job creation and the beginning of an industry recovery means gains in real construction spend- ing will materialize this year—after seven years of consecutive declines. Ac- cording to the new forecast from Port- land Cement Association, increases in cement consumption will follow. PCA re- vised its fall forecast upward from 1.1 percent, to a modest 3.7 percent increase in 2012 cement consumption, followed by a 7.6 percent jump in 2013 and a 14.1 percent surge in 2014. The forecast includes marginal im- 8 | MAY 2012 provements to nonresidential construc- tion, an upward revision to housing starts and an aggressive cement inten- sity gain, which is the amount of powder used per real dollar of construction ac- tivity. "Cement usage is greatest at the early stages of construction with foun- dation work. The retreat of building starts during the recession had a huge impact on consumption and intensity," said PCA Chief Economist Ed Sullivan. "A construction start rebound in 2012, cou- pled with concrete's competitive price compared to other building materials, translates to increases." With successive years of economic and employment growth, the structural issues facing the construction industry will di- minish, Sullivan said. For example, home foreclosures' adverse impact will fade, and return on investment for nonresidential investments will improve. Partially be- cause of these improvements, state budget deficits will eventually be replaced by surpluses. PCA forecasts all sectors of construction to be positive during 2014- 2015, which typically results in large gains in cement consumption. WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM