LAGUNA BEACH, CA (BRAIN)—Crank Brothers is suing Easton-Bell Sports claiming that certain Blackburn compact manual air pumps infringe on the 529 patent.
The 529 patent covers compact manual air pumps that have selectable high volume and high-pressure modes.
Bell Sports vice president of corporate affairs Thom Parker respects Crank Brothers as a company. “We’ve always been friendly with them,” Parker said. However, “We do respect others intellectual property.” If it’s at all possible, Parker would like to see this matter resolved out of court. “We would always like to resolve out of court,” he added.
Crank Brothers was unavailable for comment. Crank Brothers filed suit in U.S. District Court Central District of California on November 12.
Crank Brothers alleges that certain Blackburn pumps like the AirStik 2Stage pump and Mammoth 2Stage pump infringe on the 529 patent.
Crank Brothers is seeking unspecified damages and has demanded that Easton stop infringing on this patent.
—Jason Norman
