History
Clipsal was established by Alfred Gerard in Adelaide, Australia in 1920, selling a range of adjustable sheet metal fittings which joined the various imported conduits of differing diameters found in Australia at the time. This fitting was the product that gave the Clipsal company its name ("clips all" - Clipsal). Alfred’s son Geoff eventually took over the company, and it soon spearheaded several manufacturing breakthroughs, including the invention of the first all-Australian switch in 1930. The company also did early R&D on thermoplastics in the 1950s.
Clipsal Integrated Systems, a division of Clipsal, was responsible for the creation of the C-Bus protocol used in home automation.
Clipsal entered into a collaboration agreement with The Smart Company in 1995 and then a Heads of Agreement in 1996. These agreements with The Smart Company led to the development of the Clipsal Home Minder home automation brains of C-Bus that Clipsal sold until about 2004.
In 2004 Clipsal Australia became majority-owned by Schneider Electric.
Since 2004 Clipsal Integrated Systems, Clipsal Technologies Australia and Clipsal Australia have been in litigation with The Smart Company Pty Ltd about the Clipsal Home Minder and other Smart products.
The litigation is for unpaid royalties to The Smart Company pursuant to the Heads of Agreement.
The Smart Company went into liquidation on 28 May 2010. The liquidators are sourcing litigation funding to continue the action against Clipsal and effectively Schneider Electric for up to $4 billion Australian dollars.
The case was dismissed on 29 April 2011.
The liquidators filed a Notice of Appeal for the dismissal on 20 May 2011.
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