By Marge Axelrad
Editorial Director

MELVILLE, N.Y.-- As it readies plans for an expanded product offering and a series of new marketing and POP initiatives for its Flexon-related product lines this fall, Marchon has clarified its current trademark and patent status for its Flexon memory metal.

While two of Marchon’s U.S. patents for certain characteristics of Marchon’s Flexon shape memory metal technology expire on Sept. 20, 2005, there are a number of other U.S. and international patents covering Marchon’s Flexon products that do not expire for several more years, pointed out Al Berg, Marchon CEO.

Left: Marchon will emphasize its Flexon brand and manufacturing patents in messages this fall. Right: “Made to Move” and other new images will be part of a new marketing and POP program for Flexon.

These patents include, but are not limited to, U.S. patents that cover the chucking technology used in Marchon’s Flexon  frames (United States Patent Nos. 5,042,934 and 5,343,259), U.S. and international patents that cover the Ni-Ti-V raw material formula used in these frames (United States Patent No. 4,983,029, European Patent No. 338,586, and Japanese Patent No. 1,269,913), as well as various other international patents (Canadian Patent No. 1,319,548, European Patent No. 310,628, Japanese Patent No. 2,574,833, Hong Kong Patent No. 1676 of 1996 and Singapore Patent Nos. 969 1225-8) that remain in effect.

In addition to this patent protection, Marchon has also developed valuable manufacturing know how, trade secrets and other proprietary information that optimizes the use of shape memory metal technology in Marchon’s Flexon  frames, Berg said.

Through the years, Marchon has successfully enforced its intellectual property rights against infringers and misappropriators and Marchon will continue to vigorously enforce all of their active patents and other intellectual property rights, Berg said. He added, “I expect to see imitators attempt to market memory metal type products. However, the optimal formula and process used by our factories to make genuine Flexon frames is exclusive to Marchon. Due to the high-tech nature of this material, it is very difficult to manufacture consistently and difficult to color for long-term color adhesion. We fully anticipate there will be attempts to imitate Flexon, but none can lawfully duplicate exactly or infringe our patents with their attempts.”

Jeff Stern, vice president of Marchon’s Technology products added, “The success and wide consumer recognition of the Flexon brand has made it a staple of the industry. In fact, Flexon  has been consistently named in the top 10 requested consumer brands according to the Vision Watch study performed by Jobson Research.”

As further evidence of the success of the Flexon  brand and quality, Marchon now offers Flexon  in over 200 styles and eight collections, including Nike, Nautica, X-Games, Flexon, Autoflex, Flexon  Magnetics, Flexon for Kids and Tres Jolie. 

Marchon, Flexon, and Autoflex  are registered trademarks of Marchon Eyewear, Inc. Nike, Nautica and X-Games are registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Marchon plans to continue expanding the number of collections offering styles made with Flexon shape memory metal.

This fall the company will unveil new marketing and POP images highlighting the “Made to Move” theme and a range of new styles within all of its collections, Berg said.