Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. Admits Infringement, Forbidden to Sell Knock-off Flashlights

Mag Instrument Wins Judgments in Patent and Trademark Infringement Suits

Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. Admits Infringement, Forbidden to Sell Knock-off Flashlights

ONTARIO, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Mag Instrument, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of premium flashlights, today announced a legal victory in its patent and trademark infringement lawsuit against Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. The United States District Court in Los Angeles has entered a judgment against Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (Pink Sheets: DLTR) for infringement of a variety of patent and trademark rights owned by Mag Instrument, Inc.

The judgment, entered October 3, 2005, follows an earlier finding of patent infringement based on a summary judgment motion. The case progressed to the eve of trial, when Dollar Tree finally agreed to settle the case. The monetary terms of the settlement are confidential, but under the other terms of the settlement agreement, Dollar Tree Stores acknowledged the validity and infringement of Mag Instrument's patent and trademark rights. Dollar Tree Stores has also been enjoined from selling any infringing flashlights in the future and was additionally required to deliver to Mag Instrument over 120,000 of the infringing flashlights remaining in inventory so they could be destroyed.

Mag Instrument, located in Ontario, California, manufactures the Mag-Lite(R), Mag Charger(R), Mini Maglite(R) and Solitaire(R) flashlights. Mag Instrument is a U.S. manufacturer employing over 800 employees in the Los Angeles area, and is presently constructing a new 700,000 sq. ft. facility in Ontario, California which will ultimately increase the number of Mag Instrument employees to 2400. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. is a Virginia-based, publicly traded corporation that operates discount stores throughout the United States.

Dollar Tree sold hundreds of thousands of cheap, infringing copies of Mag Instrument's famous Mini Maglite(R) flashlight throughout the United States in its many retail stores. The fake aluminum flashlight copies were imported from China and looked just like the Mini Maglite(R) flashlight. Problematic to Mag Instrument was the fact that the quality of the knock-off flashlight was far below that of the Mini Maglite(R) flashlight, known not only for its unique design, but also for its reliability, durability and quality. Because the Dollar Tree Stores knock-off threatened Mag Instrument's invaluable reputation, it was very important to Mag Instrument to pursue Dollar Tree Stores.

The copying by Dollar Tree was not a unique scenario since companies have been trying to unfairly capitalize on the success of Mag Instrument's MagLite(R) brand of flashlights for over twenty years. However, Mag Instrument was surprised by the scope and brazenness of Dollar Tree's infringement. The victory against Dollar Tree Stores represents yet another in a long line of successfully resolved cases that Mag Instrument has had to file to enforce its patent and trademark rights against copiers. In another case filed against The Gillette Company, Mag Instrument alleged that The Gillette Company's distribution of a flashlight packaged with its Mach 3 Turbo Razor infringed its patent rights. Like the Dollar Tree Stores case, a judgment was recently entered against The Gillette Company which precluded it from further distributing the AA flashlights. Mag Instrument was represented in both cases by Robert C. Weiss and Mary A. Tuck of Jones Day in Los Angeles.

Source: Mag Instrument, Inc.

CONTACT: Tammy Taylor, or Joe Bunning, both of Sitrick And Company,
+1-310-788-2850, for Mag Instrument, Inc.

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