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Square D® Company recently announced that it has reached a settlement with Specialty Lamp International, Inc., of Deerfield Beach, Florida, and that Specialty Lamp and its officers are permanently enjoined from importing, selling, or distributing Square D products.

The history of the case is as follows: On June 14, 2006, Square D filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Specialty Lamp, a distributor of electrical products with no business ties to Square D. The lawsuit asserted that Specialty Lamp participated in, among other claims, willful trademark infringement in violation of federal and state law, and sought monetary and injunctive relief to stop Specialty Lamp from selling or marketing counterfeit products. The lawsuit claimed that Specialty Lamp sold counterfeit circuit breakers bearing Square D’s QO^® trademarks and copying Square D’s designs. Specialty Lamp denied the allegations of the complaint and claimed that it did not knowingly sell counterfeit Square D circuit breakers.

“Counterfeit Square D products pose serious health and safety hazards to innocent customers,” said Bill Snyder, vice president of Channel Development Management. “Square D is committed to eradicating the sale and distribution of counterfeit products. Through this lawsuit and others like it, Square D has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to prevent counterfeiting and protect Square D’s customers, trademarks, and designs.”

On August 2, 2006, Specialty Lamp agreed to the entry of an agreed order for temporary injunctive relief. The agreed order prohibited Specialty Lamp from selling or disposing of any of the Square D products in its possession and from destroying, or otherwise disposing of any of the documents in its possession regarding its purchase or sale of Square D products. On August 14, 2006, Square D inspected Specialty Lamp’s inventory of Square D products. Based upon the inspection, Square D determined that all of the 100,754 so-called Square D circuit breakers in Specialty Lamp’s possession were counterfeit. Specialty Lamp agreed to cooperate with Square D to determine the origin of the counterfeits and the customers who received them.

Specialty Lamp purchased the counterfeit Square D products from Specialty Lamp International Colombia (SLICO), International Light, Inc., and Victor Bonilla. The counterfeit breakers were imported from Bogata, Colombia. Specialty Lamp denied any affiliation with SLICO. Square D is continuing its pursuit of SLICO, International Light, and Bonilla by amending its complaint to add them as parties to the litigation November 1, 2006. Square D intends to pursue SLICO, International Light, and Bonilla to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Specialty Lamp’s records show that it sold and distributed approximately 162,000 counterfeit products into the field. Specialty Lamp has notified the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that it sold 161,900 counterfeit Square D circuit breakers, and is in the process of recalling those breakers.

Finally, on December 7, 2006, Square D and Specialty Lamp reached a settlement. Under the terms of the settlement and the agreed order for permanent injunctive relief, Specialty Lamp and its officers are permanently enjoined from importing, selling, or distributing Square D products. The order also requires Specialty Lamp to recall the products from the field under the direction of the CPSC.