In February of this year SawStop filed an antitrust suit against most of the world’s table saw maker. The plaintiffs (SawStop and its parent company SD3) claimed the defendants (most of the world's power tool companies) engaged in a group boycott of SawStop technology, violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by collectively refusing to license that technology, and fraudulently concealed a conspiracy to do all of the above. They also accuse the defendants of conspiring to influence and corrupt UL. On June 27th, District Court Judge Claude Hilton dismissed the suit and said he’ll release an opinion explaining his reasoning later.
Hilton’s ruling, while a blow to SawStop, has no legal bearing on the company’s efforts to get the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require the use of their technology on most table saws sold in the U.S. The flesh-sensing technology stops the blade and drops it below the table within milliseconds of touching flesh; the accident victim typically suffers little more than a nick to the finger that was hit.
For more on the suit, SawStop technology, and the tool companies’ failed effort to circumvent SawStop’s patents see SawStop vs. The World.
