Equipment maker slips on its fire-escape ladder.

• Author: Maley, Frank
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - Brief Article

Executives at Walter Kidde Portable Equipment Inc. in Mebane have been called deceitful and incompetent. But give them this: They know a good portable fire-escape ladder when they see one.

For years, Kidde sold a ladder made of chain that allowed users to escape from burning buildings. But it was heavy and bulky. At an industry expo in 1998, Kidde executives noticed a ladder made with aluminum rungs and polyester rails. It was a lot lighter than theirs, thus easier to use. Trouble was, it belonged to X-IT Products of Chesapeake, Va.

Aldo DiBelardino and Andrew Ive invented the ladder, which sells for $60 to $80 online, and they started X-IT in 1997. When their ladder caught Kidde's eye, X-IT was still small, with just three fulltime employees.

After learning of X-IT's ladder, a Kidde vice president bought one and had a near-copy made, say documents filed as part of a federal suit brought by X-IT in July 2000. In June 1999, Kidde executives met with Ive and offered to buy X-IT. As part of the negotiations, they persuaded X-IT to release proprietary information "only for the purpose of evaluating the potential transaction," say the court papers, filed in Norfolk, Va.

DiBelardino and lye rejected Kidde's initial offer of $600,000 and a $2 royalty on every ladder sold, but the talks continued. Meanwhile, Kidde's president asked them to hand over their then-secret patent...