TASER International, Inc. (TASR) produces advanced Electronic Control Devises (ECDs) for use in the law enforcement, medical, military, corrections, professional security, and personal protection markets. TASER devices use proprietary technology to incapacitate dangerous, combative, or high-risk subjects who pose a risk to law enforcement officers, innocent citizens, or themselves in a manner that is generally recognized as a safer alternative to other uses of force. The company, which has been in business since 1993, is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The company announced this week that the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Officer (USPTO) in an office action dated May 7, 2008 denied the Request for Reexamination 90/010,003 of TASERS’s U.S. patent 7,234,262 (‘262 patent) filed by Stinger Systems. USPTO denied the Request on the grounds that it lacks a substantial new question of patentability. The patent is named in the patent infringement lawsuit TASER International filed against Stinger Systems in the United States District Court in Arizona.

The director of USPTO made a thorough analysis of the arguments presented by Stinger Systems and found that domestic priority was properly amended and “was permitted by the Examiner.” The director determined that “(All) of ‘262 claims 1 through 18 are entitled to the domestic priority date… namely 9/17/199, since all of these claims use terms which are fully supported in each of the parent applications of the ‘262 patent.” The Director identified the supporting portion of the disclosure and explained that “when new terms amount to inherent or implicit features or functions based on the structures and functions present in the parent disclosures, the new terms would not constitute new matter.”

Let us hear your thoughts below: