Robinson Arms suing Remington, Bushmaster, Magpul and Rock River Arms

[Quiet]

This might delay the release of the ACR.

Robinson Arms Sues Remington, Bushmaster, RRA, and Magpul

Robinson Arms, manufacturers of the XCR have filed suit yesterday in US District Court for Utah against Remington, Bushmaster, Rock River Arms, and Magpul Industries based on alleged infingement of their patent (Multi-caliber ambidextrously controllable firearm #7,596,900) issued 6 October, 2009 and initially filed in August of 2003.

Specifically, the weapons alleged to have violated Robinson’s patent are the Remington/Bushmaster ACR, Magpul Masada/Massoud, and the RRA LAR-8. All of these weapons feature a magazine release that is manipulated by the trigger finger from within reach of the trigger guard as well as a similar bolt hold open device. We have read the complaint and it is fairly ambiguous as the which patent claims they allege were violated.

Both Bushmaster and Remington are part of the Freedom group, owned by Cerberus Capital Management. So for taking on Freedom Group I give them an “E” for Effort. Of note is the timing of the suit, just days before SHOT Show as well as Robinson’s announcement on their website that they would be exhibiting after all in a booth (#20034) shared with Serbu.

 

[NG VI]

Oh boy sharing a booth with Serbu? That's a great sign, how many guns does Serbu sell a year?

Looks like a foolish suit to me.

 

[Wanta B]

Well then......

I realy like the RRA's LAR-8 and have been waiting,as many others,for the release of the now ACR...I have shot the XCR and thought it was quite nice.

If this is true and depending on how things go and why this realy happened...First reaction is I just started thinking of Robison Arms much like I think of HK....

Secound reaction is this is a cheap,underhanded move to block the compitition...More importantly block good systems from end users.

At this point it is safe to say my opinion of Robinson Arms just hit bottom.We shall see...

Other than now looking to purchase another RRA LAR-8, I will be watching this unfold...

 

[Quiet]

More lawsuit info.

Breaking News: Federal Lawsuit Claims Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) Violates RDMI (Alex Robinson of Robinson Armament) Patent

On January 4th, 2010, DefenseReview published a quick piece on the new “leaked” Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) video. Well, something rather interesting has since occurred involving the ACR. According to RFC Express, a website covering “US Federal District Court, Recently Filed Cases”, a company designated as “RMDI, LLC” is listed as the Plaintiff in a federal lawsuit (Civil Action No. 2:10-cv-00029-DAK) vs. Defendant(s) Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bushmaster Firearms, Rock River Arms, and MagPul Industries. The “COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT” federal lawsuit was, according to RFC Express, just filed on Thursday, January 14, 2010 (yesterday) in a Utah District Court. Remington and Bushmaster are part of the Freedom Group, which is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

RMDI, LLC is a limited liability company owned by Alex Robinson of Robinson Armament (ROBARM), maker of the XCR Modular Weapon System tactical rifle series. DefenseReview has been informed by Alex Robinson that the lawsuit involves a patent that Mr. Robinson has on an “ambidextrous magazine release (a.k.a. ambidextrous mag release) and bolt hold-open”, and that the firearms involved in the alleged patent infringement/violation are the Remington ACR (previously known as the Bushmaster ACR) 5.56mm NATO (5.56×45mm NATO)/.223 Rem. tactical rifle, MagPul Masada ACWS (from which the ACR was derived and developed), Rock River Arms (RRA) LAR-8 7.62mm NATO (7.62mm NATO)/..308 Win. rifle, and the MagPul Massoud 7.62mm NATO/.308 Win. rifle. The official lawsuit document confirms this.

The official lawsuit document, which Defense Review has purchased and downloaded from the RFC Express website, states that the lawsuit is over U.S. Patent No. 7,596,900 (the “’900 patent”) entitled “Multi-Caliber Ambidextrously Controllable Firearm,” issued on October 6, 2009 to inventors Alexander J. Robinson, Darin G. Nebeker, and Jon C. Holway. It further states that “Defendants are liable for infringement of the ’900 Patent pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271.”

The lawsuit document continues:

“Upon information and belief, one or more of the Defendants’ acts of infringement
were made or will be made with knowledge of the ’900 Patent. Such acts constitute willful
infringement and make this case exceptional pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §§ 284 and 285 and entitle RMDI to enhanced damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees.”

There’s a Chinese saying “May you live in interesting times.” This situation should help make for an interesting SHOT Show 2010. Speaking of SHOT, you’ll be able to find Alex Robinson/Robinson Armament at the Serbu Firearms booth (#20034). Serbu makes the Serbu BFG-50 single-shot bolt-action .50 BMG rifle, Serbu BFG-50A mag-fed semi-auto .50 BMG tactical rifle, and Serbu SUPER-SHORTY 12-gauge tactical/combat shotgun.

 

[MrCleanOK]

Mods, can you merge this with the duplicate thread in General?