I politely in another thread tried to inform you that what you were stating is not really true, or at least not all true. You did not take that information to heart ... and called my search "half-hearted, incomplete, and mistaken". In fact, you are mistaken.
- SurgeX sued for trademark infringement and false advertising, not patent infringement- A core piece of what Furman uses is almost exactly like the original SurgeX Series Mode technology
I am in no way trying to discredit the ZeroSurge products, just pointing out what you are saying about Furman is not really true.
There are current patents that protect new variations of
a series surge protection circuit (as you noted above). The original patents, from the 80s, have
long expired. You cannot create new patents to protect old material. Half the
circuitry in the Furman is essentially what is in the 80s patent. Anyone
can use that technology at this point which was the SurgeX Series Mode
protection (you can't use the trademark nomenclature though).
SurgeX's series mode protection (original) is non sacrificial, but
it is not perfect. It relies on an inductor as a filter element to block the
high speed surge waveform before dumping what is left into a capacitor. As you
know, in audiophile circles, adding inductance in front of a power-amp is often
frowned upon. It of course also has a limit to how big a surge it can take
before the inductor saturates, the diodes blow, or the capacitor is
degraded. Adding MOVs in front of this type of surge protector,
especially big ones, can significantly increase how big a surge the combined
device can handle. Using both, as Furman does, is a feature, not a design
fault especially at a given cost point, and the Furman units are competitively priced.
SurgeX Suit Triggers Furman Response
By AVNetwork Staff (Systems Contractor News) January 28, 2005 Business
- Furman Sound has responded to a complaint filed by New Frontier Electronics d/b/a SurgeX, rejecting its claims in U.S. Federal Court and filing a counter claim against New Frontier. New Frontier's complaint is in part for promoting MOV-based power conditioning products as Series Mode products.
- SurgeX, citing the false advertising and promotion prong of Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, is claiming that the Furman Series II line of products use MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistors) as the main surge suppression technology and that the promotion and marketing of these products as Series Mode is false, deceptive and/or misleading.
- Furman purports that the words in question, "series mode," refer to a common electrical configuration and are not owned by any individual or organization. Furman's Series II line of products does employ this technology, said the company, however the technology in Series II units goes above and beyond typical series mode protection with a total package called SMP Plus.
- All SurgeX power conditioning products incorporate advanced technology, referred to as Series Mode, to mitigate surge and transient energy without the use of any diversionary or sacrificial components such as MOVs.
- Furman Sound...www.furmansound.com
- SurgeX...www.surgex.com