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Salt Lake City, Utah – 08/26/2025 – SA International, Inc. (“SAi”) and SAIEP, LLC (“Claimants”) have commenced arbitration proceedings against Artistic Automation, Inc., Scalar Tools Inc. dba Ibex, Jeffrey Hartman, Kent Hartman, and Jacob Hartman (collectively, “Respondents”) before the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The arbitration demand alleges trademark infringement, copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, fraud, and fraud in the inducement and other related claims arising from the Respondents’ conduct in developing and marketing the “IBEX CNC” software.
Claimants have also filed for a preliminary injunction to enjoin Respondents from continuing to infringe their trademarks and copyrights, continuing to misappropriate their trade secrets, and from selling Ibex CNC software.
The Claimants allege that the Respondents have infringed on SAi’s well-known EnRoute® trademark and have misappropriated trade secrets related to the EnRoute® software platform. SAi contends that the Respondents, after representing they would retire from the CNC market and inducing SAi to pay them a substantial amount of money, almost immediately established Ibex to develop a competing software, IBEX CNC, which infringes on SAi’s intellectual property.
Key allegations include:
- Copyright Infringement: Copying SAi’s copyrighted code in EnRoute® software.
- Theft of Trade Secrets: Incorporation of SAi’s confidential “spiral-down” or “spiral-helix routing” feature into the IBEX CNC software.
- Breach of Contract: Violations of the License and Source Code Purchase Agreements between the parties.
- Fraud and Fraud in the Inducement: Misrepresentations made by the Respondents regarding their retirement from the CNC market to induce SAi into purchasing certain EnRoute software code rights.
The Claimants are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to stop the Respondents from using the EnRoute® trademark and marketing the IBEX CNC software. Additionally, the Claimants are seeking monetary damages, including rescission of significant payments made to Respondents.
PCFB LAW represents SAi and SAIEP.
About SA International, Inc. (SAi): SA International, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions for the signmaking, digital printing, and CNC machining industries.
