Contact Information: CONTACT OurPet's Company Dr. Steven Tsengas (440) 354-6500 (Ext. 111) INVESTOR RELATIONS: SM Berger & Company, Inc. Andrew Berger (216) 464-6400
OurPet's Announces Favorable SmartScoop(R) U.S. Customs Ruling
| Source: OurPet's Company
FAIRPORT HARBOR, OH--(Marketwire - June 5, 2009) - OurPet's Company (OTCBB : OPCO ), a
growing designer, developer, producer, and marketer of accessory and
consumable pet products (www.ourpets.com), announced today that U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol ("Customs") has ruled that its new model
SmartScoop® brand of self-scooping litter boxes can freely enter the
United States.
This Customs ruling comes after petition by OurPet's to ensure that the new
model SmartScoop® was not encompassed by an April 8, 2009 exclusion order
issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") that addressed an
older model SmartScoop® and which is currently on appeal before the
Federal Circuit. In reaching its determination, Customs found that the new
SmartScoop® does not infringe U.S. Patent No. RE 36,847 held by Applica
Consumer Products, Inc. The new SmartScoop®, distributed since January
2009, was not considered by the ITC and is not the subject of any pending
lawsuit.
Dr. Steven Tsengas, PhD, President and CEO stated, "We are very pleased
with the recent positive SmartScoop® ruling from U.S. Customs validating
the intellectual property embodied in our SmartScoop® Litter Box.
Unfortunately, our competitor continues the process of misrepresenting
legal decisions, our products, brand, and reputation in letters to our
customers. We are diligently working with current and potential customers
to explain that OurPet's will continue to timely deliver the new
SmartScoop® and to refine its current products to provide a superior
choice in self-scooping litter boxes. Although it has been discontinued,
OurPet's also continues to defend the older model SmartScoop® and expects
to be fully vindicated on appeal and in related lawsuits. We feel that our
competitor is ruthless in its attempt to use its limitless financial
position to bully our customers and our Company. We are displeased with
these inappropriate, unprofessional and unethical actions and vow to fight
diligently to enhance and grow our products and patents.
"We are working extremely hard to develop new, exciting, trend setting,
innovative pet products, and will continue to, despite our competitor's
actions. Despite all the distractions over the SmartScoop® brand
products, OurPet's financial results continue to grow. Cognizant of the
challenges facing consumer spending and overall economic activity, we are
confident about our ability to continue to provide pet owner's products
that answer their needs."
About OurPet's Company:
OurPet's designs, produces and markets a broad line of innovative,
high-quality accessory and consumable pet products in the U.S. and
overseas. The SmartScoop® product line offers the most complete solution
to cat waste and odor control and includes the SmartScoop© Self-Scooping
Litter Box (patent pending), activated carbon filters, no-touch waste bags,
litter box ramps (patent pending), no-stick litter box sprays (patent
pending), odor control litter box sprays and Scoop-N-Sift (patented)
Investors and customers may visit www.ourpets.com for more information
about the Company and its products.
Certain of the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking
and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: business
conditions and growth in the industry; general economic conditions;
addition or loss of significant customers; the loss of key personnel;
product development; competition; risks of doing business abroad; foreign
government regulations; fluctuations in foreign rates; rising costs for raw
materials and the unavailability of sources of supply; the timing of orders
booked; our ability to successfully defend the alleged patent infringement
actions against us and the other risks that are described from time to time
in OurPet's SEC reports.