N@N

OurPet's: OurPet's Announces International Trade Commission Decision

  //house-home.news-articles.net/content/2008/12/0 .. ces-international-trade-commission-decision.html
  Published in House and Home on Wednesday, December 3rd 2008 at 13:10 GMT by Market Wire
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication}

FAIRPORT HARBOR, OH--(Marketwire - December 3, 2008) - OurPet's Company (OTCBB: [ OPCO ]), a growing designer, developer, producer, and marketer of accessory and consumable pet products ([ www.ourpets.com ]), provides patent infringement update on the International Trade Commission's (ITC) judgment.

On December 2, 2008 the ITC made its initial determination that OurPet's and its codefendant did not infringe on seven of the eight patent claims Applica Incorporated alleged. The only patent claim OurPet's and its codefendant infringed on relates to a perceived manual function of the SmartScoop® Self-Scooping Litter Box. Specifically, when the SmartScoop® Self-Scooping Litter Box is first assembled and turned on, the unit performs a cycle to show the user that the product is on and working properly. This action was determined by the ITC to be a manual function, which infringes on one claim of the Applica patent. While this is a minor infringement, OurPet's believes this ruling to be incorrect and intends to appeal the ITC's initial determination.

Dr. Steven Tsengas, PhD, President and CEO, stated, "We are very pleased with the outcome. We work hard to develop products that are unique and creative, and provide pets and their owner's enjoyment. The one patent claim the ITC determined that we infringe is on a minor feature and we are going to appeal. If the ITC still concludes, after review, that we infringe, we will make the necessary programming changes. We continue to work hard on developing better generations of the SmartScoop® Self-Scooping Litter Box. With this judgment we feel that our product has been validated and we are excited about this category's future."

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.