JMcKenna Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 InterNACHI sues HomeSafe over patent claims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 This is comical! It is difficult to decide which one I want to cheer for. Both are deserving of each other and the web that has been woven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcKenna Posted August 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 If InterNACHI wins, the patent issue with HomeSafe is dead. If HomeSafe wins, the patent will have the force of law and InterNACHI will continue as it has been. When ASHI faced HomeSafe, they blinked and gave HomeSafe a ton of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erby Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Me thinks someone led someone else down the garden path knowing this was going to happen. I'll cheer for Nick and iNachi because that's what is best for the industry as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 When ASHI faced HomeSafe, they blinked and gave HomeSafe a ton of money. Why did they pay HomeSafe? How much did they pay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Yeah, this is news. I'm aware of a few background situations that conflict with this storyline. What gives and how do you know it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcKenna Posted August 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Ask ASHI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 He doesn't know. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Ask ASHI. I really don't want to be an ass about this, but what are you talking about? ASHI is not an individual that can be called at some mountain retreat. They seem to be an organization (non-profit) of like minded home inspectors with an executive director, staff and elected BOD. I remain one of their biggest critics regarding their "school", but was not aware of any payola! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baird Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 ...guess this is what they mean when they say corporations are people?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Yeah, I'm filing this under silly rumor mongering. Ask ASHI......sheeesh..... Who's JMcKenna? No link, no nothing in his profile. Anyone know this guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Certified Master Inspector (a Nicki feat), IR instructor, out of Dallas. He's on Nicki's Advisory Board, supported him on a 7-pager a while back. That's all I know. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 That's enough. Just silly crap. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 If InterNACHI wins, the patent issue with HomeSafe is dead. If HomeSafe wins, the patent will have the force of law and InterNACHI will continue as it has been. When ASHI faced HomeSafe, they blinked and gave HomeSafe a ton of money. The patent's will still be around regardless of who wins! If HomeSafe wins, Nick will be out a good amount of his members money! John, can you provide a cite/link/PDF etc? detailing what you are claiming ASHI has done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAlmquist Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 HomeSafe claims that InterNACHI failed to honor its agreement with HomeSafe. InterNACHI's countersuit claims that InterNACHI signed the agreement because it was misled by HomeSafe's claim that HomeSafe "owned the exclusive right to the use of any infrared technology in home inspections." My guess is that HomeSafe wins. In a press release issued at the time the agreement was reached, Nick Gromicko stated: "After a thorough review of the HomeSafe patents by our legal team, we came to the conclusion that the HomeSafe patents are, in fact, valid." Since his own legal team conducted a "thorough review" of the patents I have a hard time believing that Nick was relying on representations by HomeSafe to determine the scope of the patents. Furthermore, in a post on this site, Nick wrote: "It's the defense costs to the individual inspector who has to prove in court that he/she isn't using the patented process that is the issue. Ask any E&O insurance company... defense costs, not claim merit, is the issue." In short, HomeSafe may be a patent troll that lies about the scope of its patents, but if InterNACHI knew that when it signed the agreement, there was no fraud. It seems unfortunate that InterNACHI is willing to fund a legal battle that it is almost certain to lose, but wasn't willing to fund the cost of defending one of its members against a HomeSafe patent lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 ...My guess is that HomeSafe wins... My guess is that an 'out of court' settlement takes place and we never know how it turned out. That maneuver seems right up Nicky's alley. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAlmquist Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 ...My guess is that HomeSafe wins... My guess is that an 'out of court' settlement takes place and we never know how it turned out. That maneuver seems right up Nicky's alley. Marc Your guess sounds better than mine. Though I guess the parties would reveal whether the settlement provides InterNACHI's members with a license to use HomeSafe's patents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie R Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Any more news on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 I'm surprised nobody has responded to this by now. Here is the gist of it. Back when Homesafe began making rumblings around suing home inspectors that use infrared technology to do their inspections, InterNACHI, instead of fighting Homesafe's patent, entered into a license agreement with Homesafe in exchange for money paid. After Homesafe threatened some InterNACHI members in Mississippi, interNACHI sued Homesafe in the state of Mississippi for breach of contract and lost. Then InterNACHI filed an appeal, arguing among other facts that Homesafe's patent was invalid. InterNACHI lost again. Finally, InterNACHI filed an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 11th of this year, the 10th Circuit issued its findings. The court made a judgement upholding the lower court's decision without hearing oral arguments, and said that InterNACHI had missed its chance to introduce certain facts at the original trial, therefore they'd lost the right to try and have the verdict overturned on appeal based on those facts. In other words - INTERNACHI LOST IN ITS ATTEMPT TO SUE HOMESAFE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. End of story (For now) ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Here is a link to the 10th Circuit's decision: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4598509/internachi-v-homesafe-inspection/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 What's the current situation regarding Homesafe's patent? Are we supposed to be paying Homesafe to use an IR camera on an inspection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Kienitz Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 There was a trial on 08/19/2019 and a decision made. I do not have the documents from that decision. One has to create an account to spend the $0.75 to get the final order. I've been told that NG is appealing and anticipating a 2-year process in that effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Yeah, I missed that one somehow. The original breach of contract complaint filed by Homesafe against InterNACHI went to trial in Oxford Mississippi in August. Homesafe won the suit. Supposedly, the judgement was approximately $300K against InterNACHI and $300K against Gromicko personally. I'm sure someone somewhere in the inspectorverse knows more about this and can provide more details about it. To answer Marc's question - probably. Now that a precedent has been set in Mississippi, Homesafe's attorneys can use that judgement as a cudgel when going after inspectors in other states. Lots of judges are lazy - if they can get a case closed more quickly when one of the parties' attorneys makes a motion for a dismissal or declaratory judgement, by pointing to a judgement elsewhere - even in other states, they often go with the judgement that set the precedent instead of going through a trial. InterNACHI could have stood with the other associations and sued Homesafe in federal court at the outset, arguing jointly with the other associations that the patent was invalid and that neither the technology nor the process of using it for home inspections originated with Homesafe, and that the technique was in widespread common use before Homesafe filed for a patent. By caving and entering into their license agreement with Homesafe in 2013, interNACHI essentially acknowledged Homesafe's claim as being legitimate, though it wasn't. The optics were really bad. Here one saw the inspection association that claims to be the largest on the planet kow-towing to Homesafe and forking over cash for a license, providing reinforcement to Homesafe's assertions. That decision to cave has probably screwed every home inspector in the business who uses, or is considering the use of, infrared technology far into the future. What a shame. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Kienitz Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 NG filed some motions. Friend of mine sent me the below screen clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 Hi, It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that iNACHI and Nick have appealed. They are in it up to their necks to the tune of just over $600K combined, with an annual interest rate of 6% until it's all paid, as the document below will affirm. We all know that I'm incapable of doing even second-grade math; but, if I pushed the right buttons on this calculator, that amounts to over $36K a year in interest alone. That's one huge Ouuuuuuch!!! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike S0708904.PDF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejager Posted October 17, 2019 Report Share Posted October 17, 2019 I'm guessing they wouldn't have to pay interest if the judgement was overturned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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