This week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved a 30-day extension for public comments on the proposed safety standard addressing blade-contact injuries on table saws. While I voted to support this 30-day extension, I also would have supported the 60-day extension requested by the Power Tool Institute (PTI). PTI’s request for additional time is reasonable given the complexity of the underlying issues.
This is particularly true given that additional information on intellectual property issues has only recently been added to the rulemaking record and will require review and analysis. In addition, under WCMA v. CPSC, this rulemaking requires disclosure of the injury-incident data on which the Commission relies. CPSC has not yet published this data. In light of the additional work that needs to be done, a 60-day extension would not impede the Commission’s timely consideration of this matter.
In October, I sent letters to various patent holders seeking information about the intellectual property related to the active injury mitigation technologies that are central to the agency’s rulemaking proposal. The Commission has since received responses from SawStop Holding LLC and the Felder Group USA.
A copy of the Felder Group USA response is available here.
A copy of the SawStop Holding LLC response is available here.