American Seating Company announced today that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a lower court’s decision requiring USSC Group, Inc., to cease infringing American Seating’s patent for the Advanced Restraint Module (A.R.M.®), a device designed to secure mobility aids such as wheelchairs within public transportation vehicles, and to pay damages for past infringement of the patent.

The ruling ends a longstanding dispute that originated in 2001, when American Seating filed a patent infringement suit against USSC, charging that the competitor’s VPRo wheelchair restraint violated the A.R.M. patent. After a series of countersuits and appeals, including a USSC claim that the infringed patent was not valid, the Federal District Court in Grand Rapids ruled in 2005 that the VPRo device did infringe and ordered a jury trial to determine damages. In 2006 a jury awarded American Seating damages associated with sales of the renamed VPRo I device, now withdrawn from the market. The product has been replaced by the VPRo II, which does not incorporate the positive locking safety feature of American Seating's patented A.R.M.

“We are satisfied with the damage award and that our patent has been established beyond a doubt,” stated Ed Clark, Chairman and CEO of American Seating. “The A.R.M. continues to be the industry benchmark for safety and convenience.”