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Adrenaline/Sup’Airball™ and Brimstone Enterprises reach Licensing Agreement for Ultimate AirBall® Bunker Patent

After multiple meetings at the Washington D.C. Law Offices of deKieffer & Horgan – just a block from the White House – Brimstone Enterprises, Inc., innovators of the patented “Ultimate AirBall®� tubeless inflatable bunkers, reached a licensing Agreement with Adrenaline Games, inventors of the first-ever inflatable bunkers, and makers of the world’s best selling Sup’Airball™ bunkers.

In the year 2000, Patent applicants Craig Miller and Milt Call formed Brimstone Enterprises to manufacture simpler, more durable, American-made tubeless bunker systems: Ultimate AirBall®. Their rugged durability exceeded anything available, and despite a slightly higher price, the simplicity, convenience and much longer lifespan won widespread acceptance fro m Game Field operations and Tournament promoters.

Competitors tried to compete, but Ultimate AirBall®’s versatile tubeless system left only one obvious option – to unfairly COPY the Patent-Applied-For stand-alone bunker design. Several competitors offered cheaper offshore-made products. Soon, Ultimate AirBall®’s  tubeless design became the “standard� of the industry, but Brimstone refused to cut corners with cheaper fabrics, foreign labor, or inferior quality. However, the sweetness of competitors’ low prices was soon overshadowed by the bitterness of lower quality. Field operators longed for the multi-year durability of Ultimate AirBall®’s heavier fabrics, tougher welding process, and American-Made quality.

In 2007, Ultimate AirBall® was granted U.S. Patent # 7,223,185. The Patent application went through the entire process “clean� - meaning every Claim was totally uncontested, a rare but legally indisputable outcome. Legal notices were delivered to every infringing manufacturer, distributor, and league using the infringing products. Fulfilling a David vs. Goliath storyline, the US Patent Office recently denied an inflatable bunker Patent application by sporting goods giant Franklin Sports, based solely on the strength of Brimstone’s innovative Ultimate AirBall® Patent.

Brimstone and Adrenaline Games/Sup’Airball™ have now reached an amicable Royalty/Licensing Agreement, enabling the Sup’Airball™ brand to continue manufacturing and sales of Brimstone’s patented designs, in exchange for an undisclosed royalty/licensing percentage, described by Adrenaline’s founder, Laurent Hamet, as “very reasonable.� Through this agreement, Leagues, Fields, and Distributors can now legally purchase, sell, and operate games on either Ultimate Airball® or Sup’Airball™ brand inflatable bunkers. With an eye toward fairness, Brimstone Enterprises, Inc. remains open to accepting royalty/licensing agreements with additional manufacturers as well, both foreign and domestic.

Brimstone’s industrial-strength, American-made Ultimate Airball® brand will be victoriously re-launched very soon (Spring 2009), including some exciting innovations. Watch for the www.UltimateAirBall.com website to go live again soon!

Brimstone Enterprises. Inc./Ultimate Airball®, can be reached at Craig@UltimateAirball.com.

Copyright Brimstone Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
“Ultimate Airball� and their logos are Registered Trademarks of Brimstone Enterprises, Inc.
“Sup’Airball� and their logos are Trademarks of Adrenaline Games.
Donald E. deKieffer, Partner in the Law Offices of deKieffer & Horgan, is a recognized expert in international anti-counterfeiting. He has practiced International Trade regulation, policy, and Intellectual Property enforcement since 1971, representing clients before the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State, Labor, and Treasury, the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Court of International Trade. He served as General Counsel to the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, representing the USA before the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and acted as Chief Trade Attorney for the U.S. Government. He participated in Cabinet-level trade policy initiatives; dealt with The President on trade policy matters; negotiated agreements and presented administration trade policy to committees of the U.S. Congress. A member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals - Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of International Trade, he is also a member of the American Arbitration Association's Commercial Panel (arbitrator), the American Bar Association, the American Society of International Law and eight other professional institutes and organizations.  He was formerly co-chair of the American Bar Association International Law Section's Committee on International Intellectual Property Rights. He has represented more than 50 brand name owners (including many household names), in diversion, product tampering and counterfeiting cases. He is currently President of EDDI, Inc., a Washington DC company that maintains databases relating to counterfeiters, diverters, and their accomplices.