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Wed 8 Dec 2010, 07:52 GMT

FuelTrax U.S. patent 'successfully defended'


Nautical Control Solutions says it has settled recent claims regarding patent infringement.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) has announced that it has successfully defended its United States patent protection rights on its FuelTrax marine fuel management system (U.S. Patent Number 7,024,317).

NCS says it has settled recent claims regarding patent infringement in the marine fuel management market, which protects the investment in the FuelTrax technology and the customer’s right to the technology on all existing and future installations.

“As an industry leader in our market segment, we are vigilant in the protection of our intellectual property rights,” said Anthony George, President and CEO of NCS. “From the beginning, we worked hard to make FuelTrax a robust, reliable system that our customers could count on. These efforts and costs were not trivial and so we applied for and received a United States patent in 2006 to protect this investment. European patent protection is also pending and we expect to be able to announce that soon.”

Mr. George continued: “As our installation base grows, we will continue to invest and enhance FuelTrax to meet existing and future customer demands and will continue to protect our rights as various companies attempt to infringe on our product’s brand and goodwill in the marketplace. Continued investment in the product coupled with diligent intellectual property rights protection is simply good business practice. It supports our continued success in the market and our customer’s confidence in the product.”

The FuelTrax marine fuel management system entered the market in 2006 and was awarded a Type Approval certificate from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in October 2008.

The FuelTrax Suite is a fuel management system designed specifically for the marine industry. It aims to improve the efficiency of marine vessels and fleets through enhanced fuel consumption information, fuel reporting, accountability, and throttle optimization.

The system utilizes technologies designed to optimize fuel savings. Using custody-grade fuel flow meters and marine fuel tank level sensors, these technologies monitor fuel flow, capture fuel burn rates, measure fuel tank levels and report fuel consumption to the wheelhouse and to headquarters.

Live wheelhouse monitoring features include BestSpeed™ and BestEconomy™, which support the master in making real-time throttle adjustments and aim to help reduce fuel consumption.

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