A Growth Partner Throughout SENSIT Technologies’ Journey from Startup to Acquisition

John and Nancy Kleppe established SENSIT Technologies in 1980. The company is a manufacturer of natural gas leak detectors. Since that time, the company has raised the number of employees from four to seventy, boosted revenue by a factor of ten, and sold a portion of itself to the Ohio-based Crane Group. Through each and every stage of the journey, Wilson & Butler Intellectual Property Law has been by SENSIT’s side.

According to Scott Kleppe, President and Chief Executive Officer of SENSIT Technologies, the relationship dates back to an earlier time. His parents reached out to Hartman Global to inquire about the possibility of patenting SENSIT’s technology. Scott was able to provide some light on the situation by elaborating, “They sat down with us, assessed what we were doing, and helped us understand that our products were actually new and gave legitimate value.”

Patents Are Obtained Through Technical Know-How

SENSIT was able to successfully acquire six patents with the assistance of Wilson & Butler, whose engineering skills was essential to the company’s achievement. “Because the attorneys are also engineers, they are familiar with the complexities of novel software and circuitry. “As a result of this understanding, our approach to working with the USPTO is passionate, and our goal is to acquire the best possible and most defensible result for us,” he said further.

The knowledge provided by Wilson & Butler helps SENSIT save both time and money. “We’ve been involved with huge metropolitan firms, but they required far more of our time to put our ideas into legalese,” added Scott. “We’ve also worked with smaller firms outside of the city.” “The strategy that Hartman Global employs is to dig in, learn everything, and not take an excessive amount of customer time,”

When challenges appear, it is essential to take this proactive and passionate approach. Recently, we submitted a patent application, and it was turned down twice, as Scott explained. In the conference call that Hartman Global had initiated with the reviewer, they argued successfully that SENSIT’s technology was “new, novel, and worthwhile.” In the end, the examiner gave their approval, and the patent was issued. “Wilson & Butler never gave up. They stated that ‘Yes, we really can win this,’ and it turned out that they were correct,’ he went on to say.

Protecting a Brand Through Trademark Use

To establish a successful company, you need more than just patents. Creating a brand that is on par with the best in the world is another essential step. By registering the SENSIT trademark in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, China, India, and Europe, Wilson & Butler was able to assist the company in safeguarding its brand. The natural gas sector is familiar with and supportive of the SENSIT brand name. It’s possible that the value of our organisation could suffer if we don’t preserve our brand, added Scott.

The Crane Group found SENSIT to be an appealing investment opportunity and purchased a stake in the firm in late 2014 as a result of the company’s well-established brand and extensive patent portfolio. The transfer of ownership and recordation of intellectual property was facilitated and completed in a timely manner by Wilson & Butler.

“Over the course of the past 15 years, our sales have increased by an order of magnitude.” Forty nations are included in our worldwide reach. “Wilson & Butler has been there for us the whole way through,” Scott further explained.