Patent Protection Rights
The tommy™ silt fence machine and the installation process is patented under the United States Letters Patent number 5,915,878. Devon Distributing Corporation owns this patent which protects against the construction, use, sale, or modification of a silt fence machine infringing on this patent. This would include building a silt fence machine for one's own use using the patented process.
Black market machines, including those built for your own use, are litigated aggressively. Fees, fines, and penalties have exceeded $20,000 per machine. We have not lost in court. We have not settled once litigation has started. Settlements have been on our terms. We have spent well over 1.2 million dollars in research, development, and marketing of the tommy™ silt fence machine - we cannot afford to allow people to copy this technology!
Devon Distributing Corporation offers rewards of up to $5000.00 for confidential information resulting in payments by an infringer to Devon for the construction, use, or sale of a silt fence machine infringing on this patent.
Please contact us at 800-965-4665 if you believe you have information about the construction, use, or sale of an infringing silt fence machine. If the information leads to a payment by an infringer, you are eligible to receive up to $5000.00 for the information you have provided in strict confidence.
Why are we forced to this action?
- Research and development costs are in excess of $250,000, which was all up front investment
- Marketing expense has exceeded $1 million and continues at $200,000 / year. This is great technology and makes a contractor 1000's of dollars in productivity profits. You would not know about it if we hadn't advertised, gone to shows and hired people to help you. If we only sell 100 machines, this is $2000/tommy™.
- This works out to be a $2,000 additional cost per machine due to patent infringement theft.