SinterFire® Update!

Updated: September 30th, 2009

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RULES IN FAVOR

OF SINTERFIRE, INC.

THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RULES IN FAVOR OF SINTERFIRE and issues a “final rejection” notice that claims in patent 6,074,454 held by Delta Frangible Ammunition are invalid.

 

Update:

In a report dated 9-18-09, the USPTO issued a final rejection notice stating that the intellectual property claims that Delta Frangible Ammunition (patent 6,074,454) asserted against SinterFire are invalid.  In a previous finding, the USPTO also issued a final rejection notice stating that claims in patent 6,536,352 also owned by Delta Frangible Ammunition were invalid. These notices of invalidity from the USPTO along with the recent favorable recommendation for SinterFire from the Federal District Court, is consistent with SinterFire’s longstanding position that SinterFire products do not infringe the intellectual property of Delta Frangible Ammunition or others.

 

 

Since 1998, SinterFire has designed, developed and manufactured high quality lead free frangible projectiles. Our unique technology and innovations have earned SinterFire the reputation as the leader in the ammunition industry and our bullets set the quality and performance standards by which all other lead free, frangible ammunition products are measured.  SinterFire bullet products are used by government agencies, training facilities and consumers around the world.  We would like to assure our loyal customers, the industry and the all those concerned that SinterFire is committed to the advancement of the highest quality, best performing and value added Environmentally Friendly “Green” ammunition products!

 

Suporting Document Link: Office Action in Ex Parte Reexamination 9-18-09

 

 

Updated: September 16th, 2009

 

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT ISSUES RECOMMENDATION IN

FAVOR OF SINTERFIRE, INC.

 

Suporting Document Link: Decision on MSJs dated:7/28/09

 

Updated: August 31st, 2009

 

There are a myriad of frangible ammunition components on the market today. Most manufacturers tout desirable performance properties, such as: reduced ricochet, improved terminal ballistics and lead free composition, but only one can claim industry-leading status in all three and more.

SinterFire, Inc. is the industry leader in the manufacture of frangible, lead free, reduced hazard composite projectiles that are BATF approved. SinterFire projectiles are produced by an optimized powder metal (PM) process. This process starts with a blend of metal powders, in SinterFire’s case copper and tin, which are compacted into the shape of a bullet. This ‘green compact’ is then heat-treated in a furnace to metallurgically alter the metal powders, and to control the properties of the finished product. The heat-treated bullets then undergo a finishing operation and are loaded into ammunition.

Any heat-treated product can be analyzed to determine its material makeup and evolution during processing. Just as humans have a distinct genetic makeup, our DNA, bullets have a unique set of metallurgical characteristics when manufactured using the PM process. Minute differences in processing can be distinguished via this method.

This set of metallurgical characteristics, known as a process map, tells the history of the material during its creation. Different heat-treatments yield different final characteristics.

SinterFire’s manufacturing process allows for a ‘fit for use’ type product meaning that a bullet can be made for different applications by altering the process variables during manufacturing.

Process variables typically include: metals’ ratio, powder size, powder shape, compaction load, thermal treatments and furnace atmosphere. What makes SinterFire bullets truly one of a kind is the engineering of the properties that result from the process variables. These include density, axial break strength and, most importantly, frangibility and ballistic performance.

The unique thermal treatments used in SinterFire’s manufacturing process are defined in the process map.

Combining the process map with several domestic and international patents makes SinterFire components not only defendable, but also assertable in the legal world.

Similar PM ammunition components exist on the market that are low quality copies of patent-protected SinterFire projectiles. These imitation products can be analyzed by comparing their own metallurgical characteristics against those of a SinterFire projectile, and processing parameters can be determined.

In addition to an inability to match the overall quality and performance of a SinterFire projectile, imposters fail to understand the importance of meeting the specific quality and performance standards for safety in frangibility.

When it comes to lead free, frangible and reduced hazard projectiles, SinterFire is second to none. Thanks to a vast arsenal of trade knowledge and experience coupled with decades of metallurgical research, SinterFire’s PM bullets are given DNA and a traceable processing history by virtue of a process map.                    

                                                                                                  Brian Benini  SF Staff

 

 

 

SinterFire® USA News updated: May 26, 2009

 

US GOVERNMENT DECIDES IN FAVOR OF SINTERFIRE

AND AGAINST DELTA FRANGIBLE

SUPPORTING DOCUMENT LINK: PTO order May 14 2009