PORTLAND, ME – VisionMaster has filed suit in county court claiming ASC International is manufacturing and distributing inspection systems based on pirated VisionMaster technology. The civil suit, filed in Cumberland County Superior Court, asserts that Medina, MN-based ASC has been illegally selling counterfeited 3D noncontact sensor systems since 2010.

The suit seeks damages, an injunction and other remedies.

ASC strongly disputed the charges, telling CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY that it never has had a business relationship with VisionMaster and was "never an authorized distributor of VisionMaster ever."

ASC is alleged to have illegally copied VisionMaster’s proprietary hardware and software and to have subsequently sold it to numerous customers under both the VisionMaster and VisionPro labels.

ASC was an authorized distributor of VisionMaster's Solder-Paste Inspection products from 1998 till 2010, and contractually had a noncompete clause to refrain from developing or manufacturing structured light scanning technology for five years after the relationship ended.

Without interruption, VisionMaster claims, ASC went from selling authorized VisionMaster SPI systems to selling counterfeit systems.

“VisionMaster strongly believes in the value of IP, and takes protecting trade secrets seriously,” said Allegra McNeally, executive director at VisionMaster. “We will not allow any competitor who steals our trade secrets and infringes on our Registered trademark, good name and reputation to evade the consequences of clear, long-standing fair trade laws. We will not hesitate to protect our intellectual property and are aggressively pursuing all legal remedies available to us.”