According to the current Woodshop News, here's what the story is all about:
"At the end of February, SawStop offered to dedicate its U.S. patent, No. 9,724,840, to the public if a proposed rule requiring safety technology on all table saws becomes effective.“ As the pioneer in safety technology for table saws, SawStop believes such a standard will radically improve the overall safety of all table saws sold in the United States. It will help prevent the tens of thousands of severe injuries annually that result in billions of dollars in corresponding healthcare, pain, and suffering costs for victims and society,” the company said in its announcement. On Nov. 1, 2023, the Consumer Product Safety Commission published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on table saws, which requires an active injury mitigation system, such as held in the SawStop patent.
The Power Tool Institute, which has five table saw manufacturers in its group of nine member companies, opposes the rule and notes in its fact sheet that “if the Commission were to require SawStop technology on table saws, there can be no assurance that SawStop would willingly license technology on reasonable terms. In fact, if the government effectively requires use of the SawStop technology, SawStop could demand any license terms it wants or not grant any license at all."
The comment period for this notice of Proposed Rulemaking could stretch out for months - even years - with many changes/compromises along the way. It could even, once again, fall by the wayside and never advance.
In any event, existing saws will be 'grandfathered' in and their usage will continue. If the proposed rules become regulations (NOT LAWS) selling an old saw could become a problem, since values will decline, and potential liabilities will escalate.
