(Hexagon Metrology: London) -- Hexagon Metrology has filed a patent infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Metris N.V. and its U.S. subsidiary Metris U.S.A. Inc., and Mitutoyo Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary Mitutoyo America Corporation, have infringed U.S. Patent No. 5,829,148 by importing into the U.S. and offering to sell infringing portable arms. Hexagon Metrology sells articulated arms in the U.S. under the brand name ROMER.

According to court documents obtained by Quality Digest, and to William Fetter, Hexagon's director of marketing and communications, the patent infringement involves the ability of certain brands of Metris and Mitutoyo articulated arms to rotate around the primary axis indefinitely without encountering a hard stop, sometimes referred to as "infinite rotation." Hexagon filed a similar suit against Faro Technologies several years ago and settled out of court in March 2007 (see "FARO, Hexagon Settle Patent Lawsuit").

According to documents, the current case involves the Metris MCA series of manual coordinate measuring arms, and the Mitutoyo Spin Arm M300. According to Hexagon, the ability of these arms to rotate without hitting a stop is an infringement on its patent.

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