Press Release
FEDERAL COURT DISMISSES ACTION AGAINST AAROFLEX
Fairfax, VA, July 29, 1997: The U.S. District Court for the Central
District of California in Los Angeles on July 25th dismissed the lawsuit
filed against AAROFLEX, Inc. and others by 3D Systems, Inc. because 3D
failed to prove to the Court that it had specific personal jurisdiction.
The dismissal of the litigation is a great victory for AAROFLEX which
has been dedicated to avoiding illusion and has sought to be open,
honest and thorough, with customers and competitors alike, related to
their technology, equipment and business activities. 3D Systems, Inc.
filed the litigation in January alleging patent infringement, trade
libel and unfair competition.
No competitor has viewed the AAROFLEX technology or any of its
commercial systems currently in production. AAROFLEX, Inc. invites any
interested parties to tour the production facility, view the technology,
and review the extensive library of prior art showing the historical
development of "stereolithography" back to the mid-1950's. Any persons
interested in learning the intricacies of the AAROFLEX technology or
viewing the literature are encouraged to contact the corporate
headquarters to make the proper arrangements.
The general concept of "stereolithography" is not protected under any
patents held by the companies manufacturing commercially-available rapid
prototyping systems. The partial concept, previously referred to as
"photo-glyph recording" by patent holder Otto John Munz, was first
introduced to the public domain upon the expiration of his US patent
2,775,758 in 1973. Articles published by the Japanese researcher Hideo
Kodama in 1981 and 3M's Alan J. Herbert in 1982 further established the
concept as public domain material. Patent infringement in the area of
stereolithography, then, entails infringement in the specific mechanics,
not the more general functions and features, of a stereolithography
system – somewhat similar to the product differentiation in the makes
and models of cars, computers or coffee makers.
AAROFLEX, Inc. acquired certain patent rights to the DuPont solid
imaging ("stereolithography") technology in 1995. Since 1993, AAROFLEX,
Inc. and its predecessor organization have been developing new
subsystems and, as a result, AAROFLEX, Inc. has several patent
applications in process.
AAROFLEX, Inc. is the manufacturer of the AAROFLEX Solid Imager, the
largest, fastest, most accurate and efficient rapid prototyping system
on the market. The AAROFLEX Solid Imager is based on the public domain
concept which has come to be known as "stereolithography", the patented
advancements of DuPont, and the further enhancements of AAROFLEX, Inc.
Contact: Nyrma Soffel
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