Smart Parts, Inc. has succeeded in invalidating the remaining patent claims asserted by NPF, Ltd. against Smart Parts in the United States District Court for the District of Wisconsin. On Wednesday, February 23, 2005, the Honorable Judge John C. Shabaz granted Smart Parts’ renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and ordered that each of the asserted claims of NPF’s U.S. Patent Nos. 6,311,682 and 6,615,814 “are invalid for obviousness pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 103.” An amended judgment has been entered “dismissing [NPF’s] complaint and all claims contained therein with prejudice” and awarding costs to Smart Parts.

This decision and judgment reverses the earlier jury award of damages and removes the injunction against Smart Parts. In reaching his decision, Judge Shabaz noted that “[t]he evidence was overwhelming that one of ordinary skill in the art would have known and been motivated to employ a reprogrammable microprocessor” in a paintball gun, and that “the inescapable conclusion [was therefore] that it was obvious to combine the elements” that NPF claimed as their invention.

As a result of this decision, Smart Parts’ paintball guns can continue to be manufactured and sold without fear of violating these patents in both their pre-December 2004 and subsequent configurations.

Dealers and individuals interested in purchasing Smart Parts’ products should contact Smart Parts at 1 (724) 539-2660.

Hey a judge with common sense!!!!