RIA Update: Safe Harbor – What Keeping a Structure’s Ambient Temperature Below 105°F Really Means
RIA and ThermaPure successfully settled a patent lawsuit that RIA began in January 2013. The agreement, in part, calls for ThermaPure to provide a covenant not to sue RIA members unless the member heats a structure to an ambient temperature in excess of 105°F while practicing the other limitations of claims of ThermaPure’s U.S. Patent 6,327,812 (the ‘812 patent). An RIA member task force created guidelines to explain how the “Safe Harbor” protections earned in the settlement can be easily enjoyed and understood on a work site.
The guidelines communicate concepts, procedures and documentation intended to guide our member firms that wish to enjoy the special legal Safe Harbor that has been made available in the RIA/ThermaPure settlement agreement signed on July 7, 2014. You can access the complete document at: www.restorationindustry.org. Non-members can also access this document to see how the Safe Harbor could benefit their contracting business if they were to join RIA. A portion of the guidelines are also excerpted below: