Axon, the company formerly known as Taser , said Monday that it has successfully defeated a Florida company in a patent lawsuit over its electrical stun gun design. For Axon, the victory is the third against knockoff rival firms in the last seven years.

Last Friday, a federal judge in Florida found that a company called "Phazzer" (yes, like "phaser") "engaged in a pattern of bad faith behavior" as the case has unfolded. Phazzer made a product strikingly similar to the Taser. And the case involving Axon was first filed in 2016, shortly after a Florida county sheriff decided to switch from Taser weapons to Phazzer (largely over cost reasons).

To further punish the company, US District Judge Paul Byron ruled in favor of Axon and hit Phazzer with a permanent injunction to make, sell, import, or distribute its own stun guns, likely marking a death knell for the Kissimmee, Florida-based company. For now, Phazzer's website is still up and makes no mention of the lawsuit.

Judge Byron lambasted Phazzer’s poor behavior, writing that "no sanction short of entry of a default judgment in favor of Taser, along with an award of compensatory and treble damages, an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and injunctive relief is adequate to address these violations." He outlined numerous occasions when Phazzer attorneys or corporate representatives failed to appear for court hearings. The judge will now further consider how much the fee order will be.

"This is a huge win for us," Doug Klint, Axon’s general counsel, said in a Monday statement sent to Ars. "We aggressively defend our intellectual property rights and have a proven track record of success in litigating these cases. We successfully prosecuted infringement cases with Stinger Systems and Karbon Arms before Phazzer. Willful infringement of our weapons technology will never be tolerated, and we will not allow competitors to trade on Taser’s goodwill and reputation for quality."

Phazzer did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.