Insect control firm in legal skirmish

A Harrisville firm claiming “the world’s most powerful and effective biting insect control system” is in the middle of a legal battle over rights to use the technology.

American Biophysics Corp., based in Rhode Island, filed suit in federal court Nov. 23 against Garland Enterprises and Akhil D. Garland for selling the technology through Utopia Yard and Garden Systems of Harrisville..

The suit is the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between Garland and ABC. ABC had sued Garland before, when he was chairman of the board of Biting Insect Technologies. That suit was settled in 2002. Biting Insect Technologies assigned the Lure-X trademark to his Garland Enterprises before the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in November of 2002.

Earlier this year, Garland struck the first legal blow, filing suit in September against ABC in U.S. District Court in Concord, arguing that his company had been working for years to perfect the Lure-X technology when ABC registered its LUREX technology last summer and used it in advertising campaigns for its “Mosquito Magnet” technology.

But Garland never registered Lure-X as a trademark and didn’t use it enough for it to stick, so Garland never had any rights to assert, ABC’s attorney Adam Hess told NHBR Daily.

In its latest suit, ABS claims it still held the 1995 patent, and it was Garland which was infringing on its rights, not the other way around. — BOB SANDERS