SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
CES is full of wild sights, but you don't often see US Marshals raid a display booth.
On Thursday, gadget lovers were treated to the sight of federal law enforcement officials packing up a booth run by Changzhou First International Trade Co., which makes a one-wheeled skateboard called the Trotter.
The raid was prompted by an emergency motion for injunctive relief filed by California-based Future Motion, which makes a similar board that balances over a single wheel, imaginatively called the One Wheel. The raid was earlier reported by Bloomberg.
The Marshals' actions highlights tension at the country's biggest consumer gadget tradeshow over cheap knock-offs and copy cats. The annual Las Vegas tradeshow often features bargain basement tech that appears to closely resemble existing products, some of which are protected by patents.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by CirclesInSand on Saturday January 09 2016, @01:06PM
cheap knock-offs and copy cats.
Oh Bullshit. This isn't about one company fraudulently pretending to be another company. There are some good reasons to support anti-fraud and anti-ID theft laws.
This is about one business protecting its monopoly from competition using patents. Patents aren't for protecting developers, they are for protecting incumbent business owners from developers.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Saturday January 09 2016, @06:30PM
How do you propose to discern which is the cheap copy cat knockoff and which is not, without using some sort of formal registration system that is honored enough to help determine who the truly inventive are, and who is looking to profit from the fruits of others ideas?
Information wants to be free, sure. If I invented something, and it was cool enough to sell, I would like to recoup some of the time spent testing and making sure I wasnt sued into oblivion for battery explosions and such, and also would prefer to see that someone in another country doesn't introduce a product that looks... just like mine.
The bloomberg article has this quote: "the design patent drawing next to an accused product side by side, and they look identical"
It also references how it seems like just recently, there has been an explosion of all very similar hoverboards being manufactured by factories all over china, where there had been no previously known R&D about it.
I am not the one to ask how to determine why it is that when a few popular items get introduced in the US, many "cheap knockoffs" come about in China--this has been evident for a long time. The freely available nature of information on the Internet has likely sped up the process of such things, unless one would like to argue that it seems that China possess a natural talent to come up with ideas second, when most other countries don't seem to have similar correlations going on with them.
All I know is that if this is a true case of copying his idea and then displaying the fruits of his labors after having mass produced it for cheap without attributing anything to the creator -- I'd be upset for him and upset at the people that copied his idea. He put a lot of effort into it, and a lot of it is chronicled online.
There doesn't appear to be any similar event history with the "knock off" manufacturers. Not even prototypes for sale; just a finished product that was mass produced. But I admit I haven't spent more than an hour looking.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by CirclesInSand on Saturday January 09 2016, @08:24PM
If I invented something
You didn't. Thousands of years of human research invented it. And if someone actually competent intended on creating your product, they could do it in a quarter of the time and half the cost because they are more educated in those thousands of years of human research. You are mistaken in thinking that you are intelligent enough to invent something that a competent person couldn't do just as well or better.
I would like to recoup some of the time spent testing
All designers have to do testing. Being first or last doesn't change that.
and also would prefer to see that someone in another country doesn't introduce a product that looks... just like mine.
And I wants hugs from every pretty girl I meet. So what?
All I know is that if this is a true case of copying his idea
Again, this thing thinking that an idea has market value. It doesn't. Products have market value. Go to a business and try to sell them an idea. "I have this idea..." and they'll kick you out. Go to a business and say "I want to make..." and they might hear you out.
Being first to market is enough of an advantage. If you have good prices, good options, good customer experience, these things that actually compose BUSINESS skills, then you won't have to worry about people copying you. If you are first, and they can't provide a better offer to customers, then you'll make money. If you are first, but you show up with crap, then you deserve to go broke. Patents are just forcing people to buy crap.