Magpul Brings Lawsuit Against Four Companies for Patent Infringement
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.07.13
It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Magpul Industries is not taking patent infringement lightly. The company recently announced that it has filed separate lawsuits against four other magazine manufactures that mirrored Magpul’s trademark designs too closely. According to guns.com, the companies named in the lawsuit are Promag, Plinker Tactical, Big Rock Sports/Swampfox and Cole Industries.
“These patents exemplify the industrial design-focused spirit at Magpul, which drives us to create novel solutions that enhance user experience with our products,” said Duane Liptak, Director of Product Management and Marketing for Magpul Industries. “People who use Magpul products have high expectations and a great deal of trust regarding the value, quality, and amount of thought put into every design we release. As such, we cannot allow others to misappropriate the patented technology that helps us generate that consumer confidence and trust.”
Magpul alleges that the named companies have infringed on numerous design patents, the most notable being the company’s Utility Pat. No. 8,069,601. This is the design for the popular Magpul PMAG 30 magazine, which has been sold by the millions to military, law enforcement, and civilian customers since the product’s inception in 2007. The PMAG design has become recognized by professionals and recreational shooters alike as the design to beat when it comes to magazines for the AR-15 or similar weapon platforms.
The information available on Google’s database of patents provides the following abstract of Utility Pat. No. 8,069,601:
The present invention is an ammunition magazine, preferably made of a glass fiber reinforced polymer, utilizing a structurally enhancing ridge, angular guide rails and a follower made to interface with said guide rails to reduce wobble. The preferred embodiment also features a protective cover that distributes forces from the follower spring to more structurally sound areas of the magazine, thus reducing feed end splay, and an ammunition indication system comprised of at least one window and a noticeable marker on the follower spring . The follower and magazine casing are also designed to interface to prevent the follower from popping out of the feed end and the floor plate of the magazine utilizes a locking plate and sliding relationship between the floor plate, locking plate and magazine to secure the floor plate onto the magazine casing. The cover features built in tools for, among other things, unloading and disassembling the magazine.
Magpul is still currently in the process of moving out of Colorado, a departure that was announced after the state passed a package of new gun control laws. According to the company’s Facebook page, Magpul will disclose the location of its new headquarters soon.
