A glove patent lawsuit worth watching

Tom Votel, President of Tenacious Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a Ergodyne) threw down the gauntlet yesterday against the Wells Lamont Glove company in a lawsuit claiming infringement on his glove design patent.
The lawsuit (Case 0:2012cv00893) filed in Minnesota on April 10th, seeks damages against Wells Lamont for claims that they infringe on a US Patent design patent #D/388,514. This patent, filed in 2009, was issued to Votel (listed as the inventor) on February 2, 2010 and assigned to Tenacious Holdings.
As a glove patent owner myself on several glove utility (field of use) patents, a glove design (appearance) patent for a work glove is rather unique and interesting. As a matter of fact, in the last two decades I’ve only been associated with one (1) design glove patent and that was for a consumer novelty glove. 
It’s not uncommon for glove companies to copy another’s work glove and I can only assume Mr. Votel and his company became very tired of these glove industry shenanigans. I like the Wells Lamont Glove Company and I like the Ergodyne Company but I’m a glove designer and maker. So, I’ll watch this case closely. Let’s see who will be the most tenacious. 

HAVS still a Threat

I was recently contacted by Jerry Laws, the Editor of OH&S (Occupational Health and Safety Magazine) regarding the persistent problem of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome since we offer certified AV Gloves for workers with this chronic problem.

It’s the same problem I discussed back in a February post. To see my discussion with Jerry click on the title of this post. It’s an important and often overlooked issue.

I’m curious how many of you workers out there know about HAVS?

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Good Good Good Good Vibrations

I thought of this classic Beach Boys song when I was drafting an article for “Modern Contractor” about anti-vibration gloves and (HAVS) Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome. It’s a worthwhile read for those of you who work with any type of vibrating tools in your work.

You can also see our newest glove to prevent HAVS. See the new Ergodyne ProFlex Anti-Vibration Gloves. (Shown) Click on image to enlarge.

I’m not sure these gloves will keep giving you excitations but they are the only ANSI certified glove for this problem.

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