Tyco Fire and Building Products (TFBP), based in Lansdale, PA, announced that it has entered into a license agreement with The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc., The Viking Corp., and Victaulic Co. of America, concerning Tyco's low-pressure, early suppression, fast response (LP/ESFR) patented fire sprinkler technology. Sprinklers developed using the proprietary LP/ESFR technology have been used to protect warehouses and high-bay storage from high-challenge fires. TFBP, a division of Tyco International Ltd., reached this agreement on behalf of Central Sprinkler Co., a TFBP company that originally developed the technology prior to being acquired by Tyco.

As part of the agreement, each of the licensees has acknowledged the validity of all claims of Central's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,502,643 and 6,868,917. The agreement fully resolves all claims and counterclaims asserted during four years of activity in the litigation entitled Central Sprinkler Co. v. The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc., Civil Action No. 03-CV-0112 (S.D.N.Y.) (CLB) and related litigation, all of which will now be dismissed.

The LP/ESFR technology featured in the ESFR-25 fire sprinkler allows for up to four stories of warehousing rack storage to be protected by sprinklers located only at the ceiling, and not within the racking itself.