Two simultaneous court cases, both involving Johnson Outdoors Inc, parent company of Scubapro and Uwatec, reveal the current turmoil in the dive computer market.

Uwatec has filed a patent infringement complaint against Suunto in the German courts. The complaint relates to Suunto's latest computer the Vytec, which uses wireless transmission of data to give a diver information about the pressure of gas in his or her cylinder.

Uwatec claims that this facility was patented in 1994 when the Air Z Nitrox dive computer was developed. If the action - to prevent Suunto selling the Vytec in Germany, and claiming damages - succeeds, it would be followed by similar actions in other countries unless Suunto were to voluntarily withdraw the Vytec.

At present Suunto have declined to give any comment on the legal action.

Meanwhile, Johnson Outdoors are fighting a US lawsuit by four divers who are claiming that they suffered bends as a result of using Uwatec's 1995 Aladin Air X Nitrox.

The divers, led by Robert Raimo - a former Uwatec distributor, claim that a fault on the computer meant that surface intervals were credited as if the diver was breathing the mix of nitrox used on their first dive while on the surface. This led to an underestimation of decompression obligations for repetitive dives, and, they claim, resulted in their decompression injuries.

The Aladin Air X Nitrox was withdrawn earlier this year due to a fault, but Johnson Outdoor claim that this is not an admission of liability.

A statement was issued by Johnson Outdoors spokesperson Cynthia Georgeson: "In the course of our investigation of a complaint filed in 2002 (the first that provided any substantiation that a 1995 Air X Nitrox was even present during an alleged incident), we discovered that under extreme and rare dive situations, the product could malfunction. We reported our findings and intention to recall the product to the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) in October of 2002, and the recall was executed upon CPSC's approval in February 2003."

Raimo, however, alleges that managers at Uwatec became aware of the fault as early as 1996, and prepared to recall the product, but that the matter was covered up and employees who insisted on bringing the fault to the attention of more senior managers in the company were dismissed.

Two former Uwatec managers, Frank Marshall and Patricia Daugherty, filed a lawsuit against Uwatec and were awarded $2 million in damages in 1998. However, rather than face an appeal by the company against the award, they accepted an undisclosed sum in return for signing confidentiality agreements.

Raimo alleges that the pair were 'whistleblowers' - a point denied by Johnson Outdoors - and is consequently claiming punitive damages from the company.

There are also allegations that the late Rob Palmer wrote to Uwatec refering to the 'known fault' with the computer. Knowledge of the fault is specifically denied by Uwatec.

Uwatec became part of Johnson Outdoors in 1997. Johnson Outdoors has already settled one case, filed in 2002 by diver David Sipperly, who claimed to have been injured after relying on an Aladin Nitrox computer for dives in 2000.
For unrelated reasons, Johnson Outdoors also recalled Uwatec SmartPro, ProUltra and SportPlus dive computers in July 2003.


Further information about dive computers
Suunto Vytec review, 2003
Aladin Air X Nitrox review, 1996
July 2002 comparison of dive computers

News Index Page