LightKeeper Pro® & LED Keeper®
GLENVIEW, Ill., Dec. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ulta-Lit Tree Company, the leading provider of Christmas light repair products, is battling Simple Living Solutions, LLC (SLS), a company that has infringed Ulta-Lit’s US Patent # 9,500,719. Following Ulta-Lit’s assertion against SLS of this patent in a lawsuit, which was resolved favorably last summer, SLS ceased distribution of the infringing product after an admission of guilt. They will be paying Ulta-Lit monies for 3 more years per contract.
The LightKeeper Pro® is Ulta-Lit’s flagship product. It is used to identify and repair broken incandescent light sets without the need to replace entire strands. This innovative red tool has been UL® listed since day one and is a lifesaver for millions who want to enjoy their holiday lights without the hassle of testing bulb by bulb or throwing away their expensive pre-lit decor. For LEDs, Ulta-Lit offers the yellow LED Keeper®.
Both TARGET and LOWE’S had bought the LightKeeper Pro® for 17 straight years. For 2023, LOWE’S brought an imitation SLS gun-shaped ‘tool’ into their stores in the color blue. TARGET brought the same ‘tool’ into their stores in the color green. Ulta-Lit’s tools are not available at LOWE’S or TARGET this year. “Our Quick Fix for incandescent and insulation piercing for LED are the long-accepted industry standards for rapid and effective repair. Their tool contains neither. For example, their new LED testing method has the user insert a piece of metal into EACH socket looking for the bad bulb while the lights are plugged into the wall outlet. That’s like inserting a screwdriver into a live circuit, to what end?”, said John DeCosmo, founder and owner of Ulta-Lit. He went on to say, “Of course, the staff and consumers of those 3,500+ stores carrying the SLS ‘tool’ this year are now learning they are stuck with inferiority. But, with Christmas only a few weeks away, there’s little time to remedy that. It’s crazy – some consumers are purchasing our tool from Amazon and returning the SLS tool in our packaging to us for a refund. Additionally, their 2023 light set tool does not come with their customer support phone number on their packaging, nor do they offer instructional video support of this product on their website as of this writing.”
While the SLS tool uses a similar shape to the LightKeeper Pro®, Ulta-Lit owns the exclusive rights to the colors red and yellow for light set tools and was just awarded exclusive rights to its gun-shaped design for light set tools effective 2024.
Ulta-Lit provides stellar customer service through a toll-free hotline, instructional videos, and step by step manuals. Ulta-Lit has taken over 10,000 phone calls and emails in 25+ years, striving to keep the consumers’ holidays bright. “Our tools are game changers for our customers, saving them time, money, and frustration,” said John.
About Ulta-Lit:
Ulta-Lit Tree Company of Glenview, IL was founded in 1996 as a pre-lit tree importer and developed two proprietary tools that are used to repair Christmas light sets fast and easy. Its LightKeeper Pro® was first introduced to the marketplace in 2004. This tool repairs most incandescent light sets in seconds. The LED Keeper® was introduced in 2012 to diagnose faulty LED sets. They have sold over 6 million tools. Large and long-time brick and mortar accounts include ACE HARDWARE, AT HOME, BLAIN’S, BOSCOVS, CANADIAN TIRE, DO-IT BEST, H.E.B., HOME DEPOT, HOME HARDWARE (Canada), MEIJER, MENARDS, MILL’S, ORGILL, and TRUE VALUE. Online accounts include AMAZON.com, CHRISTMAS.com, and WALMART.com. The company achieved INC5000 status in 2011, 2012 & 2013 solely based on sales of these tools, remaining inventive and continuing to build and protect their bona fide intellectual property portfolio.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ea24c2db-7e51-4e58-9fff-60d9d0e759a0
