Sackett Systems Found to Have Plagiarized Battery Handling Systems (BHS) on Numerous Counts

October 13, 2016 – St. Louis, Missouri - Battery Handling Systems, Inc. (BHS), a leading provider of material handling and battery changing equipment, finds that their competitor, Sackett Systems, has copied BHS copy content and products.

On October 7, 2016, BHS filed a complaint against Sackett Systems for copyright infringement as 63% of Sackett Systems’ Forklift Battery Room Best Practices, posted on their website, was a verbatim copy of BHS' article Battery Room Best Practices.

Sackett Systems is also found to have copied a product of Battery Handling Systems, a sign indicating Battery Changing Area. The sign is an original design of BHS’.

BHS’ attorneys have sent a letter to the executives at Sackett Systems’ with request to cease and desist, with proof of such by October 14, 2016.

The letter from BHS’ attorney states that “Sackett Systems has been illegally copying a number of materials from our client, Battery Handling Systems’ website. Such copies are clearly infringing BHS’s copyrights in these original works. For example, according to the Copyscape Plagiarism software, the Sackett System’s Forklift Battery Room Best Practices brochure includes large amounts (63%) of text copied verbatim from BHS’s Battery Room Best Practices. This is clear plagiarism. As another example, Sackett offers a product sign (Model #9712 – Pack of 9 Safety Signs) listed in the Sackett Systems Price List effective June 1, 2016, that was copied from BHS sign offerings. As the Battery Changing Area image is an original design of BHS, this is also clearly plagiarism. These are but a few examples of what appears to be rampant copying of BHS materials.

Battery Handling Systems has copyrights in each of its original materials and takes copying of these materials very seriously. Sackett’s infringement is willful and subjects it to steep monetary penalties, including paying to BHS any and all profits it has made on sales of infringing products. The Court may impose additional penalties as well. Damages for registered copyrights can be assessed up to $30,000 per work infringed and can be increased to $150,000 for willful infringement.”

The letter goes on to request that “all of the materials identified…must be immediately removed from your website. All electronic and paper copies should be destroyed. Any other materials that have been copied in any part from any BHS materials should also be deleted or destroyed. BHS demands that Sackett [Systems] immediately take these steps and provide written confirmation that these steps have been taken by October 14, 2016.”

Within one business day of receiving the letter, Sackett Systems removed Forklift Battery Room Best Practices from their website.