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CHICAGO - The intellectual property law firm Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione in Chicago has successfully defended a rare temporary exclusion proceeding before the International Trade Commission (ITC) on behalf of its client The Rival Company and its parent The Holmes Group, Inc. The ITC has refused a request by Tilia, Inc. and Tilia International Inc. for a temporary exclusion order barring Rival from importing and selling its Seal-a-Meal® home vacuum-packaging machine. Rival, based in Milford, Mass., is a leading designer and manufacturer of small kitchen appliances, including most notably the famous Crock-Pot® brand slow cooker. 

The ITC complaint, brought by Tilia of San Francisco, alleged that Rival's Seal-a-Meal infringed Tilia's patent for its own FoodSaver® home vacuum sealers. Tilia began the patent infringement proceedings against Rival last year when Rival introduced new versions of its Seal-A-Meal home vacuum sealers. On Feb. 18, 2004, Tilia and Rival mutually agreed to settle their various claims in the ITC and in co-pending litigation in federal court in San Francisco. 

William H. Frankel of Brinks served as lead counsel for Rival. Other attorneys from Brinks working on behalf of Rival included Michael P. Chu, Robert S. Mallin, Laura Beth Miller, Anastasia Heffner and Mircea A. Tipescu.

Founded in 1917, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione is based in Chicago, with offices in San Jose, Calif., Indianapolis, Ind., Ann Arbor, Mich., and Arlington, Va. The firm is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the country, with approximately 150 attorneys who specialize in intellectual property litigation and all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and Internet work, unfair competition and technology and licensing agreements.