Florence, S.C. -- The United States District Court of New Hampshire has awarded $2.2 million to ESAB Welding & Cutting Products. This multi-million dollar award stems from a patent infringement suit filed by ESAB in 1999 against Centricut llc, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Hypertherm Inc. The suit claimed certain Centricut products infringed on ESAB’s patented technology used in the production of UltraLife™ and other ESAB electrodes for oxygen plasma cutting. ESAB’s proprietary design significantly increases the life of the electrode and reduces the risk of leaks. Long life electrodes were developed by ESAB to help operators cut costs.

The monetary settlement – awarded to ESAB for damages suffered through the sale of Centricut’s electrodes – comes nine months after court proceedings in Concord, New Hampshire. An injunction blocking the future sale of the infringing products is pending.

One of the world’s largest manufacturers of welding and cutting equipment and filler metals, ESAB is a pioneer in the field of plasma arc cutting. The company patented the Plasmarc™ technology in 1957 and introduced its long life oxygen plasma cutting technology in 1989. Headquarters for ESAB’s plasma cutting operations are based in Florence South Carolina.