Gas-assisted technology company Gain Technologies Inc. got very few takers among existing Battenfeld Airmould users for its limited-time offer for a low-priced license, Gain President Michael Ladney said.
No North American molders took up the license offer, which expired Dec. 10, Ladney said. Gain signed up about five or six European molders that already were using Airmould, he said.
The offer was part of a truce last year between Gain of Sterling Heights, Mich., and Battenfeld GmbH. Under the deal, molders that already had been running Airmould for three months - from Sept. 10 through Dec. 10 - got to exercise an option to take out a license from Gain covering the Melea Ltd. patents, at a cost of $35,000 per injection molding machine. The regular price now applies: $100,000 per machine.
Given the low interest in his 90-day offer, Ladney said Gain continues to watch for molders it feels are violating its patents.
The Gain-Battenfeld deal followed nine years of disagreements between the two companies over gas-assisted molding patents, and negotiations to reach a licensing deal. Last fall, Battenfeld of Meinerzhagen, Germany, mailed copies of the Melea license agreement to about 500 companies that either were running Airmould already or had inquired of Battenfeld about the technology.
A Battenfeld spokesman said the machinery maker would not disclose how many companies use Airmould, or how many have taken out licenses from Gain.
The $35,000 license price still applies for buyers of new Airmould units.
