Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. From 2014, Sears Holdings owned a 10% share in the company. ESL Investments was the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a Fortune 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware, and a provider of security products. Headquartered in the greater Hartford city of New Britain, Connecticut, Stanley Black & Decker is the result of the merger of The Stanley Works and Black & Decker on March 12, 2010.
Craftsman is a line of tools, lawn and garden equipment, and work wear. Originally a house brand established by Sears, the brand is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker.
The Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Technologies, Inc., 381 F.3d 1178 is a legal case heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning the anti-trafficking provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2), in the context of two competing universal garage door opener companies. It discusses the statutory structure and legislative history of the DMCA to help clarify the intent of the anti-circumvention provisions and decide who holds the burden of proof. It expresses that the statute creates a cause of action for liability and does not create a property right, and holds that as Chamberlain had alleged that Skylink was in violation of the anti-trafficking provision, it had the burden to prove and failed to show that access was unauthorized and its rights were infringed under the Copyright Act. As Chamberlain incorrectly argued that Skylink had the burden of proof and failed to prove their claim, the court upheld summary judgment in favor of Skylink.
A garage door opener is a motorized device that opens and closes a garage door controlled by switches on the garage wall. Most also include a handheld radio remote control carried by the owner, which can be used to open and close the door from a short distance.
The HomeLink Wireless Control System is a radio frequency (RF) transmitter integrated into some automobiles that can be programmed to activate devices such as garage door openers, RF-controlled lighting, gates and locks, including those with rolling codes.
Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that formed Trizec Properties Ltd: Zeckendorf, Eagle Star, and Covent Gardens.
Richard Louis Duchossois was an American businessman and racehorse owner. He was the founder and chairman of The Duchossois Group, Inc., a family-owned company headquartered in Elmhurst, Illinois that is known for its ownership stakes in Arlington Park and Churchill Downs race tracks, as well as for rail car and defense manufacturing.
The Frantz Manufacturing Company located in Sterling, Illinois, is a manufacturer and marketer of conveyor system components and steel ball products used in a variety of applications.
Control4 is a provider of automation and networking systems for homes and businesses, offering a customizable and unified smart home system to automate and control connected devices including lighting, audio, video, climate control, intercom, and security. The Control4 platform interoperates with more than 13,500 third-party products and it is available in over 100 countries. In August 2018, it managed 370,000 homes. The company is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Control4 was a publicly traded company from 2013 until 2019, when it merged with SnapAV.
Vivint Smart Home, Inc. is a smart home company in the United States and Canada, and a subsidiary of NRG Energy. It was founded by Keith Nellesen and Todd Pedersen in 1999.
Lockitron is a device which can lock and unlock doors via remote control, typically via a smartphone. Starting with installations in 2010, it is one of the earliest examples of a Smart lock. Lockitron was made by Apigy Inc., a start-up based in Mountain View, California. Apigy was a graduate of the Y Combinator start-up accelerator.
Vivint Solar was an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2011 as an offshoot of home automation and security company Vivint and was headquartered in Lehi, Utah. The company primarily used a power purchase agreement (PPA) business model where Vivint Solar installed and maintained a solar system on a customer's home, then sold power to the customer at an agreed upon rate for a set term. In 2020, the company was purchased by Sunrun, another solar company primarily focused on the PPA business model for $3.2 billion.
Kenmore is an American brand of household appliances, cookware, floorcare, grills, HVAC equipment and other home items owned and licensed by Transformco, an affiliate of ESL Investments.
HomeKit, also known as Apple Home, is a software framework and communication protocol developed by Apple Inc. that lets users configure, communicate with and control smart-home appliances using Apple devices. It provides users with a way to automatically discover such devices and configure them. By designing rooms, items and actions in HomeKit, users can enable automations in the home through a voice command to Siri or through the Home app. With HomeKit, developers are able to create complex applications in order to manage accessories at a high level.
Garageio is a smart home garage door controller created by Alottazs Labs, LLC headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Alottazs Labs, LLC is a privately held company founded in October 2012. Garageio is an Internet of Things product providing managed garage and gate access via a smartphone and other web-enabled devices.
HomeSeer Technologies LLC is a technology company based in Bedford, New Hampshire, in the United States. HomeSeer makes home automation controllers and software, designed to integrate lighting, HVAC, security, AV and other subsystems in most homes. Additionally, the company maintains an online store of compatible home automation products and a free online community forum for users and dealers.
Hive is a trademark owned by Centrica Hive Limited that produces smart home devices. It is one of the largest connected home providers in the UK and, as of May 2018, the company had more than 1,000,000 customers.
Crestron Electronics is an American privately held multinational corporation that manufactures and distributes control automation and integration technology. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes equipment used to control technology in commercial audiovisual environments such as meeting spaces, conference rooms, classrooms and auditoriums. Crestron equipment is also used for high-end residential audiovisual installations, built on the company's Crestron Home OS.
A parcel locker is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels.
