CCI’s Genuine DRAG ® Technology Stands the Test of Time

In a decision with far-reaching implications concerning the title and use of original CCI technology, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recently rejected all 47 claims in two Copes-Vulcan patents for RAVEN trim. After reviewing the Copes-Vulcan patents, the PTO found that Copes-Vulcan should not have been granted patents because the inventions were simply copies of CCI’s previous technology.

The Copes-Vulcan claims suggested that CCI’s DRAG® technology was old and the Copes-Vulcan design was new. However, CCI prepared documents for the PTO that comprised two to five arguments on nearly every Copes-Vulcan claim to show why each should not have been initially accepted by the PTO.

The PTO’s decision to deny these claims and thereby revoke Copes-Vulcan’s patents is a final action, meaning that the re-examination results were reviewed and signed off by a three-member Patent Examiners Committee, and there will be no further review by the PTO. The PTO’s rejection of the Copes-Vulcan claims attests to the originality of CCI’s DRAG® technology and indicates that Copes-Vulcan’s RAVEN is an imitation of CCI’s prior invention.

For nearly four decades, CCI has used its DRAG® technology to meet customers’ severe service control valve demands around the world. The technology that Copes-Vulcan attempted to patent was published by CCI and was in the public domain years before Copes-Vulcan filed its patent applications. What is more, CCI’s original technology has continuously evolved and improved to meet customers’ changing needs, and CCI stands by the performance and reliability of its genuine severe service control valve solutions.

Published in SOLUTIONS Spring 2004