JMcKenna

InterNACHI takes control of NAHI. Nick Gromicko is now NAHI's new Executive Director. https://nachi.org/nahi.htm

Ask ASHI.

I have not been able to find the mk rating on the sec gen FLIRONE. FLIR seems to be hiding it for now. The optics on it are poor, which makes the resolution like trying to see through dirty glasses. FLIR does NOT recommend the FLIRONE for professional use by home inspectors. I have already contacted them on this more than once.

If InterNACHI wins, the patent issue with HomeSafe is dead. If HomeSafe wins, the patent will have the force of law and InterNACHI will continue as it has been. When ASHI faced HomeSafe, they blinked and gave HomeSafe a ton of money.

Scott is a wonderful teacher. Very good in his presentations. I highly recommend.

InterNACHI sues HomeSafe over patent claims

With regard to your first question, I took actions to accomplish three goals: The first was to have the lawsuit against the inspector withdrawn. I achieved that goal just in time on the morning the inspector's response was due to be filed. I believe I had 6 hours left before he could potentially have lost by default. The next concern was to protect my members from immediate subsequent lawsuits and legal threats. I was able to achieve that goal, at least for now. The last goal was to provide a safe haven for all inspectors, not just InterNACHI members. When Bill Louden first called me about this issue (he called me last month, I didn't call him), I promised him and Frank Lesh that I wouldn't leave ASHI members out on a limb and that I would try to find a way to provide this safe haven for ASHI members who use IR cameras as well as InterNACHI members. I kept my promise. In reviewing Mr. Gromicko's post above I find one accurate statement. That being that I called him. From that point on the narrative is a flight of fantasy and the record needs to be corrected. First lets make it clear that Mr. Russell, the threatened inspector, was not an ASHI member but we at ASHI wanted to help. As a courtesy, we called Mr. Gromicko to determine if he had a plan that we could work with. In the course of the discussion he made references to such odd possibilities as writing his own standard and using that as a legal defense. He also believed that everyone should avoid reading the HomeSafe patents. Mr. Gromicko indicated that on advice of his counsel, he had not read the patents. This was, in his mind, some kind of magic shield that would protect him and his members from legal action. Over the past five years I have consulted with patent attorneys in New York, Washington DC, Detroit and Huntsville, it was clear to me that Mr. Gromicko was grasping for a solution and had little in the way of a viable plan that ASHI could work with. I did tell him we were reactivating our task force on the issue and were willing to work with INACHI members who were willing to join an industry coalition to have these patents overturned. At the end of our conversation Mr. Gromicko asked for a "gentleman's agreement" between himself and ASHI that neither party take any action without first consulting the other. We agreed and ASHI held to that agreement. You can image our surprise that Mr. Gromicko broke his word and unilaterally made his deal with HomeSafe. As far as this supposed 6 hour deadline Mr. Gromicko says he had to save Mr. Russell, I spoke to Mr. Russell on the day before the date he was required to respond and he said his attorneys had developed a response and strategy and were ready to move ahead. The deadline was merely to respond, basically they had to enter a plea, guilty or not of patent infringement. Once a plea was entered that Mr. Russell had not violated the patents, there would have been months of back and forth and eventually a trial date would be set, probably sometime late next year. Plenty of time to build the coalition we are working on now. At ASHI we are very committed to resolve this matter in a moral and responsible manner. We have already joined with a Washington DC lobbying group, Coalition for Patent Fairness, and will be incorporating our on industry coalition, (with the ASHI board approval next week) within the next few weeks. We have already received promises of industry support and will be asking all thermographers to step up and contribute to our coalition to raise the tens of thousands of dollars it will take to protect the industry of these patent trolls. I invite all home inspectors and thermographers to stand with us. You say Mr Gromicko had no plan that ASHI could work with. You seem to pick out parts of the discussion that make it appear that Mr Gromicko was considering many possible plans. You also admit that you had nothing to offer, and that the task force on this issue was shut down. Then Mr Gromicko got an idea that was outside your conversation with him and he acted to get the case dropped and reached an agreement that removed the threat of law suits for those who wanted the protection. So far you have not offered any plan (which you can still do at anytime). So far you have nothing to offer other than saying you want a donation. Why am I not surprised? The inspector being sued has said he did not have the kind of money you talk about in order to fight this patent issue. So me thinks he had no working plan and did not even have the money to act on a plan, even if he wanted to. Zero plus zero still equals zero. You have defended your zero but nothing has been done. Your own task force was even shut down until Mr Gromicko put a fire under your ......... What is your solution? That is the question we need answered. Anyone can say their idea is better... so please tell us your plan.

Because there is no coalition and my attempts to form one failed. For example, I asked ASHI if they would help and they turned me down explaining that they couldn't even commit $1,000 toward it because they have a 21-member board of directors that has to approve everything. Both major manufacturers turned me down too. So, I had to go it alone. Could be folks turned you down because they don't trust you. History does have a way of repeating itself. Just saying..... The same folks did nothing for the poor inspector who was being sued. History will show that Nick was the only one who did something for the inspector in need and got the law suit dropped. The others could have done something, but did nothing instead. Does that make you trust them? I think you are wrong. A large group immediately began organizing and they continue to do so. There's a difference between member-owned associations with representative governance that aren't permitted to do anything without debating it first, and then voting on it, and a private entity. Don't think so? Look at the snarl in D.C. Those other associations have by-laws they are obligated to follow. Nick's association is basically thousands of folks paying him a few hundred every year to participate in his association but he isn't hamstrung by any by-laws. Look at it this way, governments are debating forever what to do about global warming but if they wanted to Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Donald Toupe' and others who are obscenely wealthy could dip into their pockets and hire every farmer who's cutting and slashing in the Amazon rain forests and make them game wardens and pay them a very comfortable wage overnight. Then instead of cutting and slashing those wardens would zealously guard the rain forest and preserve it. Those folks could do that with their pocket change. Instead, they rely on their governments to come to a solution and that takes time. In the case of this guy who was getting sued by the patent trolls, there wasn't enough time to bring all of these disparate groups together, formulate a cohesive plan and then go back to membership, organize meetings to discuss the issue and then bring it to a vote in each organization so the "coalition" could move forward. Nick, unencumbered by any rules except those he makes up for himself, was able to use his considerable resources (membership dues) to act immediately. It's just too bad he didn't use those resources to stall the patent trolls long enough to allow the other associations time to get their coalition up and running; so that the coalition, with him included, could move forward in a direction everyone agreed on. Had Nick done that for the benefit of the profession, instead of unilaterally acting on his own and tacitly validating the tent trolls' nutty claim, he would have been hailed as a hero and a whole lot of folks might have changed their opinions about him and his association. Instead, he's just made it more difficult for all of those inspectors using infrared that don't belong to his association. Now, instead of being the hero, he has set himself to look, in their eyes, like the villain. Your comments are all based on what "could have been", what "should have been", what "might be", what "could be"... etc... Let me know how all that works out for you. In the mean time, in the real world, Nick provided a solution and to those of us who enjoy the solution... he is no villian. Member dues have provided another benefit for InterNACHI that is really nice. BTW... during the next round of law suits, and they are coming, it will be interesting to see who rises from the "coalition" to save the day.

If the patent fails or wins... InterNACHI and it's members will feel no pain.

Because there is no coalition and my attempts to form one failed. For example, I asked ASHI if they would help and they turned me down explaining that they couldn't even commit $1,000 toward it because they have a 21-member board of directors that has to approve everything. Both major manufacturers turned me down too. So, I had to go it alone. Could be folks turned you down because they don't trust you. History does have a way of repeating itself. Just saying..... The same folks did nothing for the poor inspector who was being sued. History will show that Nick was the only one who did something for the inspector in need and got the law suit dropped. The others could have done something, but did nothing instead. Does that make you trust them?

Why support a company that's obviously attempting to noose the profession and milk it dry? Why not use your abundant resources to join a coalition of inspectors to repudiate this patent? Marc Where was this "coalition" at the 11th hour before this case went to court? You can't join a group of talkers. Who, other than Nick, did something we can see by their actions? Also, if you knew Nick's legal team and their experience in patent law, you might understand their opinion that the patents in question might be hard to overcome. After a thorough review of the HomeSafe patents by our legal team, we came to the conclusion that the HomeSafe patents are, in fact, valid,? said Nick Gromicko, president of InterNACHI. ?We can find no evidence of prior art that has not been reviewed by the patent office, and all six patents are approved and in good standing with the USPTO. Therefore, we reached out in good faith to HomeSafe and negotiated on behalf of our membership and found that HomeSafe was more than willing to develop a reasonable license package that would protect InterNACHI members. We are pleased that we have structured an agreement that will immediately protect our members. From InterNACHI members now enjoy protection under infrared patent license. - InterNACHI http://www.nachi.org/homesafe.htm#ixzz2hW7kMpG5 There's been mention from every corner how difficult a legal challenge it would be, so I'll grant you that. I guess its just a thorn in my side that if I were to purchase an IR camera, I could expect a letter from HomeSafe trying to get a check from me. I've a foundation in mechanical engineering and in thermodynamics. I'd never fork over those huge fees that those IR training schools charge. I'm confidant I could make good use of the device with practice and with what I already know about airborne moisture, thermal flux and temperature gradients in houses. The HomeSafe patent is robbery. Marc Your opinion that infrared training is not needed is telling. Because you do not work as a building thermographer, then I suspect your theory has not been tested. Good luck with that.

Why support a company that's obviously attempting to noose the profession and milk it dry? Why not use your abundant resources to join a coalition of inspectors to repudiate this patent? Marc Where was this "coalition" at the 11th hour before this case went to court? You can't join a group of talkers. Who, other than Nick, did something we can see by their actions? Also, if you knew Nick's legal team and their experience in patent law, you might understand their opinion that the patents in question might be hard to overcome. After a thorough review of the HomeSafe patents by our legal team, we came to the conclusion that the HomeSafe patents are, in fact, valid,? said Nick Gromicko, president of InterNACHI. ?We can find no evidence of prior art that has not been reviewed by the patent office, and all six patents are approved and in good standing with the USPTO. Therefore, we reached out in good faith to HomeSafe and negotiated on behalf of our membership and found that HomeSafe was more than willing to develop a reasonable license package that would protect InterNACHI members. We are pleased that we have structured an agreement that will immediately protect our members. From InterNACHI members now enjoy protection under infrared patent license. - InterNACHI http://www.nachi.org/homesafe.htm#ixzz2hW7kMpG5

This place if full of insults. Why don't you guys have a pow wow and deal with the insults at home first?

Yep. I accepted his challenge and his terms and he ran out of the ring. In a puff of smoke, Kurt was gone. I think they are afraid.

Anyone can still go through HomeSafe for a safe haven from a law suit. That has always been available. Nick has just provided a way that InterNACHI can have protection for free with their membership. I see no harm in that. Thanks for helping all of us Nick.