Smart Parts Patent Will Destroy Paintball! - Read!

[manike]

Originally posted by Paintballer1833
You guys are all a bounch of gentlemen who dont know whats going on and either do i. No one knows for Pete's sake stop being a bunch of marshmallowss and wait for an announcement you can trust. Not the delightful WAS president who has data that made their patents broader. Does that mean they are going after all people who come close to breaking into them. Untill we see them in court trying to actually do this or they make a public announcment saying they are you guys are just being making beautiful love idiots.

Thanks for your far reaching insight. You may want to watch your language in future as cussing is not usually allowed here.

Just because you do not know what is going on does not mean everyone is in the same situation. There is a lot of good and valid information in this thread. It may take a while but it might be worth reading it before adding any more such insightful comments.

Originally posted by Paintballer1833
Untill we see them in court trying to actually do this

NEWS FLASH!

We already seeing them in court with ICD, and we see them preparing to go to court with WDP... your next point was?

[TecnoRobo]

ROFL i must say thats pretty funny manike.
I mean the substitution of words that is.

Marshemellows? lol

sorry, sometimes ya just gotta laugh

[mR.HaAPPY]

what sort of insect crawled into ur urinary track, layed a bunch of eggs and died?

u seriously have to chill. no one is FORCING u at gun point to read these posts. If u don't want to see any more of these *POOF* posts, then don't read them, simple as that. do u think ur cool or something because u cursed alot and didn't really say anything. If ur not going to make a contribution to the general knowledge of the people reading this thread, then don't post. I think U should stop being such an a *POOF* idiot and quit with the gay ranting about nothing.

You too, watch the cussing.

[jinxed]

Originally posted by manike

We already seeing them in court with ICD, and we see them preparing to go to court with WDP... your next point was?

Speaking of reality-

I noticed a few pages back that it listed previous lawsuits to: WDP, BOA, ICD and ACI-

I assume SP sued BOA over barrel porting.... (sigh).
Why did they sue ACI? I though they only made mechanical blowbacks?
And what are the chances of ICD countersuing SP because the IMP was stolen from the BM2k?

OMG, is this true????

I think 4 days ago, a judge decided that the lawsuit could "go to trial", which is a semi-victory for Smart Parts. SO, what you read is probobly a twisted version of that.

-Nick
-NE Devil Dogs

[sneakyhacker420]

MY E-MAG HAS A YELLOW ON/OFF BATTERY BLOCKER/PIN



**POOF*** with your post count you know better. Don't push it or you get a vacation.

[OilDong]

wow

THIS FILLS ME WITH HATE AND RAGE I SHALL BOYCOTT ALL SMART PARTS MANUFACTURED ITEMS AND ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS SMART PARTS SHOULD BE PUBLICALLY FLOGGED IN A COMICAL FASHION AND HIT WITH SHOES LIKE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ SO LOVE TO DO. FURTHERMORE I THINK THE OWNER OF SMART PARTS SHOULD BE TREATED WITH NO LESS HATRED THAN SADAAM HUSSEIN, BIN LADEN, AND HITLER COMBINED OH YES AND LETS NOT FORGET HO CHI MIHN....IN CONCLUSION I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS MESSAGE CAME FROM THE HEART

[bryceeden]

So SP sued ICD and is now going after WDP. Do you know what this means! They are doing exactly what they said they were , we better stop them now before they prove they didn't lie. I don't support SP brodening the patent, but so far they are doing exactly what they said, so why shouldn't we belive them? Lets see what happens and then see if it is a problem.

[Doc Nickel]

SneakyHacker, I suggest you go read my SP Suit FAQ.

Just having a "pin" instead of a "switch" won't help. There's FAR more to it than that- genearlly speaking, it can be said SP is trying to patent the very idea of using electricity or electronics to control and fire a paintball gun.

And again, I agree Drew might have been a little- okay, a LOT- hyperbolic in saying this suit and it's ramifications will "destroy" paintball. Sorry, that's just not possible- even if the sales of new PB guns were outlawed tomorrow, there's still ten million of them out there in players' hands.

However, that's not to say this suit is "good" or even merely "neutral". SP deliberately rewrote their patent to encompass more than what the original patent covered- which was just their Shocker.

According to the original Shocker patent, no one would be allowed to make a two-solenoid dump-chamber design. With the expansion, they've gotten away from the idea of patenting just the gun, to patenting the IDEA of the gun- IE, an electronic paintball gun.

Again, even this is by no means the "end of paintball". However, it can mean- and is virtually guaranteed to, if it passes as SP wants- greatly increased prices pretty mcuh across the board, for all of us.

Every maker of any electropneumatic, from the Angel on down to the Black dragun, will have to pay SP licensing and royalty fees. These fees could be small and fair, or they could be crushing and usurious. It's no secret that SP is a company out to make money, and they see this suit with great big dollar signs in their eyes.

If it passes, it will also have the effect of stifling new marker development. Oh, I'm sure a few clever mechanical versions will probably pop up, but the fact of the matter is, it already costs a bloody great fortune to bring a new marker to production, and SP's fees and licenses would add a significant chunk on top of that.

Long story short- no, it's not going to spell the end of the sport by any means. But that doesn't mean it's a "good" thing either- right off the bat it will very likely bankrupt ICD, which, for that matter, could still happen even if ICD wins!

Losing- or even severely hurting- any good, respected PB manufacturer is bad for all of us.

Doc.

[WickedAirSportz]

Manike has weaseled his way into the higher circles with the various manufacturers. And as much as it pains me to say (and you know this pains me), he is absolutely right with everything he has stated.



I have no idea where the guys on the Kingman forum came up with that crap... that is about as far off base as AGD making the Intimidator. :)

I talked to someone who was sitting in the court room while the hearing was going on last Friday. I have the info about as first hand as you can. I supposedly have copies of the entire proceeding being forwarded to me as soon as they have been fully transcribed. These are public records, you just have to pay for the transcribing service and copying service.

The official statement from Smart Parts was that they are in fact sueing ICD and WDP, and "at the moment", they are not proceeding against any other company. Well, that's a no brainer... they go after ICD first to set precedence, which makes it easy to go after anyone else.

[WickedAirSportz]

And again, I agree Drew might have been a little- okay, a LOT- hyperbolic in saying this suit and it's ramifications will "destroy" paintball.

Of course it won't... but it definitely got the ball rolling on making people aware of what was going on. :)

[WickedAirSportz]

1/9/03 147 MEMORANDUM ORDER granting in part, denying in part defts'
[117-1] second motion for Summary Judgment. The motion is
granted as to non-infringement of Claim 3 of the '707
patent and denied as to non-infringement of Claim 1 of the
'843 patent ; Defts' [132-1] motion for Claims Construction
is granted and that the matter is hereby referred to Mag.
Judge Sensenich for a Markman hearing to determine whether
the language of Claim 1 of the '843 patent supports the
construction of a single, four-way solenoid valve as an
embodiment of the element requiring first and second
electrically operated pneumatic flow distribution
mechanisms ; The Markman hearing is to determine
construction of Claim 15 of the '133 patent, as per Judge
Cindrich's Order entered 10/2/01 directing remand for
construction of the term "electrically controlling the
filing of" in Claim 15 of the '133 patent ; the [144-1]
amended report and recommendation is adopted as the opinion
of the court. ( signed by Judge Terrence F. McVerry on
1/9/03 ) CM all parties of record. (tt)
[Entry date 01/10/03]

[GT]

Originally posted by WickedAirSportz
I supposedly have copies of the entire proceeding being forwarded to me as soon as they have been fully transcribed.

Can you legally scan those for us on AO?

jb

[M-a-s-sDriver]

As much as I respect Doc Nickel and his work, I get a little chuckle when I read some designs are not patented for the sole reason of "furthering" the sport of paintball.
It would be more accurate to say those designs don't get patented because of general laziness, ignorance of the possibilities, or lack of vision.
I also believe any company that suffers from this lawsuit deserves everything they get for not adaquatly protecting themselves.
I am a Contractor and business owner, and at times have to take certain legal measures to protect myself from the eventuality that I may be a victim of circimstance, no matter how remote the possibility.
Not protecting your product or services from legal carnivores is a foolish way to run a business. Maybe it is true; the best lesson is learned the hard way.
Brent Jackson, PFB.

[clanger]

I find it funny that you can't cuss on these forums but your able to post pictures of swastika(sp) in an attempt to demean a company for agressive business tactics.

[pbzmag]

Originally posted by Doc Nickel
[B]According to the original Shocker patent, no one would be allowed to make a two-solenoid dump-chamber design. With the expansion, they've gotten away from the idea of patenting just the gun, to patenting the IDEA of the gun- IE, an electronic paintball gun.

Ok. They expanded to the IDEA of using electronics in the marker, which was erlier this year. Now they need to show that there is no prior art. That will be their problem. There has been many electronic markers since 1999. Besides the Shocker, there was the BE RainMaker. There was even an electro upgrade for the Tippy M-98. If SP starts sueing other companys for using electronics in their markers, they will have a hard time convincing the judge that there is no prior art. But from what I am getting from the patents, SP is sueing ICD and WDP for using a solenoid to control the back on forth motion of the bolt and/or hammer.