NEW YORK -- A retired FDNY firefighter says he's satisfied with the agreement reached with his former employer in a patent infringement suit.
Michael Bishop filed suit in January, accusing the FDNY of stealing his training invention, a Power Jam.
The device allows firefighters in training scenarios to practice breaking down doors without actually destroying them in the process.
Bishop, who retired in 1999, worked on the device when he was off-duty, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
After obtaining a patent and securing companies to produce the devices, Bishop said the FDNY was one of his best customers. "When they stopped buying them all of a sudden, I wondered what was up," he said.
That's when he discovered they had stolen his idea. He sued them, feeling betrayed.
Earlier this summer, a judge agreed with him. The FDNY paid him $15,000 as well as his $10,000 legal fees.
Although he sued them for the 14 devices they made, they only had to pay for one unit.
"It wasn't about the money," he said. "It was my invention."
Bishop said it wasn't the first time the FDNY stole his ideas. They also used the design concept he developed to convert a bus into a mass confidence course.
