Specialty Silicone Gets Court OK to Sue Competitor

Matthew Phillips of The Business Review Two windshield wiper makers will continue their back and forth in court. A federal judge ruled that local manufacturer Specialty Silicone Products Inc. can proceed with its lawsuit against the nation's largest windshield wiper maker, Trico Products Corp. of Rochester Hills, Mich. Specialty Silicone also named Genuine Parts Co. Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., in the suit. The company does business as NAPA auto parts. In response to the suit filed by Specialty Silicone last year, Trico and NAPA requested the judge dismiss all six Specialty Silicone complaints, saying the company failed to make legitimate claims. The wide-ranging lawsuit is connected with Specialty Silicone's Teflon-coated windshield wiper blade, known as SilBlade. Trico makes a similar product, Teflon Blade. Included in the suit were Specialty Silicone claims that Trico and NAPA restrained competition when they replaced SilBlade with Trico's Teflon Blade at some of the 5,800 NAPA auto stores. The complaint goes on to say Trico then bought out the remaining stock of SilBlades to both remove competing products from NAPA stores and monopolize the windshield wiper market. Specialty Silicone also alleged Trico and Genuine Products infringed on Specialty Silicone's patent for Teflon-coated blades. Finally, Specialty Silicone charged there is such an insignificant amount of Teflon content in Trico's Teflon-Blade that the company's advertisements are deceptive. In a decision filed March 6, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy said Specialty Silicone's lawsuit could continue against Trico on four counts. On two other complaints, the judge asked Specialty Silicone to change and resubmit its claims. "It's pretty much a win. It's just we have to go back and change a couple things," said Arlen Olsen, who represents Specialty Silicone for the firm Schmeiser, Olsen & Watts LLP of Latham. Olsen resubmitted those claims against Trico April 4. Lawyers for Trico Products disagreed with the decision. "While we disagree with the court decision not to dismiss, we feel that the underlying complaint of SSP [Specialty Silicone] has no merit and we will defend the suit vigorously," said Curtis Castleman, cheif patent counsel for Gates Corp., a sister company of Trico Products. McAvoy dismissed all claims against Genuine Parts except for the claim of patent infringement. However, Olsen said Specialty Silicone resubmitted all of those claims as well. Ballston Spa-based Specialty Silicone was founded in 1990 by five former employees of GE Silicones of Waterford. Besides wiper blades, the company makes custom silicone compounds as well as silicone rubber septa, thin films and silicone lubricants. Specialty Silicone employs 40 full-time workers. With SilBlade, Specialty Silicone is aiming for a high-end sliver of a domestic wiper market that was worth $720 million in 2000. In 2001, wiper blades were one of the strongest sellers in the after-market parts market, jumping 9.8 percent, to nearly $800 million, according to an industry trade group. need a loan fast with bad credit bad credit personal loans for