Timing Device Lawsuit Reaches Settlement

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A dispute between competing manufacturers of automatic timing devices over patent infringement issues has ended with an out-of-court settlement.

The agreement ended a two-year legal battle involving Precision Time Systems Inc. and UStopIt LLC. Both companies manufacture devices used by basketball officials that stop the game clock when officials blow their whistles.

The settlement was announced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The terms of the settlement were confidential. Both companies will continue to operate.

The case dates back to September 2021 when Mike Constabile, the president of Precision Timing System, filed suit against Keith Fogleman, Roger Ayers and UStopIt LLC alleging patent infringement and sought damages and relief.

Constabile, who resides in Oak Island, N.C., received the first patent for his device in March 1994. He began testing it at various recruiting camps the next summer, and in 1995 his device was used at the North Carolina state tournament. By the early 2000s, it was being used by various college conferences and a few years later in the NBA. It was first used in the NCAA tournament in 2015, but has not been used in the tournament in recent years.

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(OSSAA) approved a pay raise for high school officials working in the postseason starting with the 2023-24 school year. The OSSAA board of directors also voted June 7 to increase mileage reimbursement from 35 cents per mile to 65.5 cents per mile, matching the IRS standard rate. The details of the pay raise were not immediately released, but Associate Director Mike Whaley called it a “game-changing

Constabile received additional patents for his Precision Timing System in April 2011 and December 2019.

Fogelman, who resides in Raleigh, N.C., introduced the Whistle Stop system in April 2021. It was tested in empty gyms, then at a summer camp before being unveiled at three tip-off tournaments that marked the start of the college season. Several college conferences eventually adopted the Whistle Stop system, although it was still being tested.

In June 2021, Constabile sent Fogleman a certified letter claiming Constabile’s two most recent patents had been infringed. In July, Fogelman’s counsel responded and denied any infringement. That exchange precipitated the subsequent legal battle that ended with the recent settlement.

Fogleman told Referee his company was “100 percent open for business now” and that it would be business as usual.

“Our system is totally ready to go,” Fogleman said. “There’s nothing whatsoever that’s going to change us from doing anything we were doing before. We’re moving on.”

Constabile issued a statement that read in part: “After 18 months See “Settlement” p.15 move.” The increase was aimed at helping attract and retain officials. The action did not change regular season rates, which are determined by school districts.

Baseball Umpires Refuse to Work in League

Following an early June incident in which umpires were allegedly harassed and threatened, the Greater Taunton (N.J.) Amateur

Collins continued from p.8 forward to focusing on a process of continuous improvement for our officials through collaboration with the many stakeholders of our game.”

A former D-I goalkeeper, Collins has officiated numerous NCAA tournament games across all three divisions during his onfield tenure from 1993 to 2017. He officiated in multiple conferences, including the Atlantic 10, Big East, Colonial Athletic Association and The Ivy League.

For the past 10 years, Collins served as coordinator of soccer officials for several conferences, while also being a national assessor and registered assigner for the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association. His role as an assessor has extended to the professional ranks, where he has evaluated match officials in Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League and the United Soccer League since 2017 for the Professional Referee Organization. Collins also continues to serve the U.S. Soccer Federation as an assessor and instructor in his role as a national referee coach.

Collins resides in Connecticut, where he works as a vice president with Pelican Capital Advisors.

Baseball Umpires Association (GTABUA) suspended providing officiating services to the Taunton West Little League for the rest of the season. Umpires said they were threatened with physical violence. “In my last 20 years of umpiring, I have never seen an incident like this ever in my life at any level of baseball,” umpire Paul Nadeau told WFXT-TV. The league said it suspended all of the offending persons from their park indefinitely. But for the association, that was not enough. “It was unsafe, and I was not going to put those guys in that situation, and I had to make sure it wasn’t going to happen again,” said Dominic Damiano, president of the GTABUA.

Northwoods League Umpire Injured

A Northwoods League umpire was taken to the hospital after