CENTER TWP — Nearly two months after a patent infringement case involving an inventor, Sears Holdings and a Butler County manufacturer gained national attention, not much has changed on the legal front.

However, management at the Sears store at the Clearview Mall responded to a small group of Butler County residents by repositioning the two products at the center of the debate — two adjustable wrenches — next to one another during the holiday shopping season.

In November, Dan Brown, inventor and founder of Illinois-based LoggerHead Tools, sued Sears Holdings, also based in Illinois, claiming that it violated the patent for his Bionic Wrench, among other infractions.

The tool, which has been manufactured, assembled and packaged by Penn United Technologies in Jefferson Township over the past seven years, grips multiple sizes of nuts or bolts evenly from all sides. It has collected a number of awards and recognitions, including the 2009 “Popular Mechanics” Breakthrough Innovation Award.

LoggerHead has sold thousands of the wrenches through its website and other retailers since 2005. During each holiday season since 2009, the company has had an exclusive agreement with Sears as its major retailer, selling hundreds of thousands more.

But this past September that changed.

Craftsman, which is controlled by Sears Holdings, debuted the Max Axess Locking Wrench.

That tool, manufactured in China, looks similar to the LoggerHead and uses a similar gripping mechanism.

Brown, in his legal complaint filed Nov. 9 in U.S. District Court, claims the Craftsman tool is a “virtual copy.” He also alleges Sears Holdings misled him at the end of 2011 and through the first half of 2012 about ordering a large number of wrenches to sell during this past holiday season. That deal fell through, and it also included what Brown claims was an agreement not to pursue wholesale deals with other large competing retailers.

Sears says it did nothing wrong and has continued to claim the Craftsman wrenches are different.

Larry Costello, a spokesman for Sears Holdings, referred to a statement the company made on Nov. 14: “We take intellectual property rights very seriously and respect those rights. The allegations made by Mr. Brown simply are untrue, and we will vigorously defend against all of the allegations raised in his lawsuit.

“Despite some visual similarities to other tools on the market, the Craftsman Max Axess Locking Wrench operates in a different way, using a mechanism designed in the 1950s that Mr. Brown expressly argued to the patent office was different from his own design.”

Costello said Sears would continue to sell both products.

However, Costello would not comment on whether Sears would order more Bionic Wrenches from Loggerhead once its inventories are depleted. He also would not comment further on the lawsuit.

Brown said Sears' defense is a “smoke screen.” He also claimed the corporation practices a “piracy business model” and likened the Bionic Wrench situation to a “punch in the stomach.”

A self-proclaimed “economic romantic,” Brown is a professor at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering, where he teaches product development courses. As a result, he strives to do what he says is best for the sustainability of the U.S. economy: make and assemble products with all American-made parts and labor instead of taking American ideas and having them made overseas.

His legal battle and supportive stance of U.S. manufacturers gained national attention once aired through national news outlets such as ABC News and the New York Times.

In response, a Butler Township businessman in December took his own stance by talking to the manager of the Sears store at the Clearview Mall when he could not find the LoggerHead product in the store.

Rob Bianchin, president of the Cabot Gun Co. LLC, whose firearms also are made by Penn United, asked that the Craftsman wrench be pulled from the shelves, or at least that the LoggerHead receive comparable display space.

He said he didn't think it was right for that Sears store to feature the Craftsman product made in China over the LoggerHead product made in Butler County. Also, he said the holiday season spurred him to act because it was such a vital period of business for LoggerHead, an American company, which sold hundreds of thousands of the wrenches as gifts through Sears in the past few years.

Plus, Penn United, which employs about 600 people, laid off staff because it no longer needed to ramp up production for the holiday season, he said.

According to Jim Mahan, production manager for Penn United, the company cut 31 positions, two of which were full time, with the rest being seasonal assembly positions.

While having to stop that production for now was not a significant impact on the precision manufacturer, Mahan said the company would still like to have that business from LoggerHead.

Mahan said Penn United has about 100,000 completed Bionic Wrenches on hand, with parts to build another 100,000.

Brown has cut hours for his five employees.

In hopes of getting a quick response, Bianchin planned to hold and film a wrench destruction protest with several other pro-American manufacturing advocates. If a compromise with Sears was not met, he had planned to post a video online.

However, the manager of the Clearview Mall store, who requested not to be identified in this report, told Bianchin he would try to accommodate the request. He added the store would continue to sell both products as long as both are supplied. However, he would not comment on whether he was able to order more Bionic Wrenches.

Satisfied with the compromise, Bianchin canceled the protest, which was scheduled just before Christmas.

“I think we accomplished what we wanted,” he said.

As of Friday, Sears at the Clearview Mall was selling both tools for about $25 each.

Consumers nationwide also continue to have a choice between the products. As of Dec. 28, both 8-inch versions were listed on Sears' website for $19.99.

Brown said LoggerHead is actively seeking agreements with large retailers to replace the business lost to Sears. However, he said Sears has continued to order inventory for some other LoggerHead products.

Read Dan Brown's full legal complaint against Sears Holdings at: www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/Recently%20File%20cases/12cv9033.pdf