Suburban 'Bionic Wrench' Maker Wins $6M in Patent Suit Against Sears, Supplier

(Source: Chicago Tribune)

The father and son behind a Palos Park tool company thought Sears Holdings' Craftsman brand locking wrench looked a lot like their patented Bionic Wrench — in fact, a little too much. A federal jury in Chicago agreed. Nearly five years after LoggerHead Tools accused Sears and supplier Apex Tool Group of copying his creation, a jury has awarded LoggerHead nearly $6 million in damages after finding the companies willfully infringed on two patents.

Brown Sr. founded LoggerHead tools in Palos Park and launched his U.S.-made Bionic Wrench invention — an adjustable-size wrench with a plierslike grip — in 2005. The product racked up $20 million in retail sales in the next three years. Sears placed its first order with LoggerHead in 2009, and ordered more Bionic Wrenches each year until 2012, when it introduced the Craftsman-brand Max Access Locking Wrench,which sold for nearly half the price. LoggerHead sued Sears and Apex in 2012, claiming Max Access was a "virtual copy" of its product. 

Usually, inventors at small companies don't have the resources to go head-to-head with a major corporation," said Paul Skiermont, the Browns' attorney. Dan Brown Jr. said he and his father felt they had to go to court to defend their intellectual property or run the risk even more retailers would choose to create a knockoff. Skiermont said the company LoggerHead plans to request the judge consider awarding additional damages because the jury found both companies willfully infringed on LoggerHead's patents. LoggerHead also will be seeking an injunction that would keep the alleged copycat products off the market.