A Tennessee District Court granted a Temporary Restraining Order in favor of Texas-based Rare Breed Triggers in its ongoing legal fight asserting patent infringement of its “forced reset triggers.”
On January 13, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a 14-day TRO that prevents the sale and marketing of “infringing devices” and requires the removal of “Super Safety” devices for free download on Odysee.com. It also requires the defendants, Timothy Hoffman and Hoffman Tactical LLC, to refrain from posting any designs or files on any platform.
The December 2025 patent infringement lawsuit has garnered much attention from the 2A community for what has been perceived as foul play. Patent owner, ABC IP, LLC and Rare Breed Triggers, Inc. (the company that sells the products and has exclusive rights to the patents), sued designer Timothy Hoffman and his company Hoffman Tactical LLC.
Rare Breed exclusively licensed the contested design from the patent owner (a Delaware shell company), but has not created any novel products itself. The two patents (here and here) related to “Forced Reset Triggers”, were filed in 2022, and 2023, and both granted in July of 2024. The triggers were designed for AR-15 rifles and allowed a faster rate of fire while still being classified as semi-automatic.
The novel devices were targeted in a significant lawsuit brought by the federal government alleging they were “machineguns” under federal statute. The litigation against Rare Breed was supported by gun rights groups such as the National Association for Gun Rights.
In May of 2025, the Bondi Justice Department ended litigation against Rare Breed in a settlement which included the requirements to:
- not develop or design FRTs for use in any handgun
- enforce its patents to prevent infringement that could threaten public safety
- promote the safe and responsible use of its products
FRTs are now legal and popular in many states, with new, unique designs popping up frequently.
In 2023, engineer and inventor Timothy Hoffman announced his own open-source FRT he called the “Super Safety” – a 3D-printable drop-in solution which he shared for free online on sites like Odysee, so anyone with a 3D printer could make one at home. (The July 31 YouTube video entitled “Introducing the Super Safety” has now been removed.) Rare Breed claims Hoffman’s Super Safety infringes on their licensed patents.
The case has sparked backlash from the 2A community, with many calling for a boycott of Rare Breed for suing an open-source designer after winning their own ATF battles with significant help. Rare Breed has also filed similar patent lawsuits against other small makers.
