why don't they just appeal the sp patents?

[painTech]

Why doesn't somebody just take sp to court for having stupid made up patents?

[Mindflux]

Originally posted by painTech
Why doesn't somebody just take sp to court for having stupid made up patents?


Because SP has more money, thus can drag out the court dates.. thus causing smaller companies with less money to have to settle rather than go bankrupt TRYING to get SP into court.

[painTech]

when sp gets to kingman or brass eagle they will get owned 3 times over

[ghideon]

What has the world come to when we're rooting for BE and Kingman?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

The world has come to a point where we now realize how good of a company BE and Kingman are. With all there money they could appeal so manytimes they would shut down SP and they would still be doing fine. They are huge companies that produce low end guns and get large profits back, and that is a good thing.

[teufelhunden]

That's assuming we know all the facts, which we probably don't. The Gardners were patent lawyers before they were paintballers, so they know the system, meaning they've gotta have some ammo somewhere, because they know that'd they'd end up in court on this somteims..

[Butterfingers]

There are better patent lawyers out there im sure.

All it takes is a bit of $$$ to take SP down.

They know this thats why they are striking the little guys first.

[Cryer]

I'm almost willing to bet they wount touch kingman and BE. I'm hoping they do, and I'm hoping that Kingman and BE are smart enough to know how to defend themselves.

[FreakBaller12]

I thought they had to enforce it on EVERYONE. Not just being selective. Correct me if i'm wrong please.

[shartley]

Originally posted by toyotaboy12
I thought they had to enforce it on EVERYONE. Not just being selective. Correct me if i'm wrong please.
Actually, I don’t think they need to enforce it on everyone at the same time… and as such, if they are actively enforcing it one case at a time, I think that qualifies as defending the patent.

[Major Jam]

The big companies with deep pockets will just pay the licensing fee and royalty per gun. It costs less than a court case, doesn't interrupt production cycles, it's legal and they continue to sell product. Then they pass the cost onto the consumer.

Brass Eagle is (or was) a publicly traded company, they have the bottom line to consider. They could care less about paintball ideals. The SP patent is just another cost item on the balance sheet.

[shartley]

Originally posted by Major Jam
The big companies with deep pockets will just pay the licensing fee and royalty per gun. It costs less than a court case, doesn't interrupt production cycles, it's legal and they continue to sell product. Then they pass the cost onto the consumer.

Brass Eagle is (or was) a publicly traded company, they have the bottom line to consider. They could care less about paintball ideals. The SP patent is just another cost item on the balance sheet.
And does being in a court case interrupt production? Wouldn’t that be the choice of the company, and not part of the process?

Because what if they WON? What about all that lost production time? Is there anything that is prohibiting them from continuing to operate as normal? Are there any court orders to stop production while cases are being determined?

Heck, if that was the case, you could cause any company to stop manufacturing by simply filing a suit against them. But that is not quite how it works.

Also, about passing the cost to the customer… this is true. But it happens for every aspect of production already. And as folks have seen, there really has not been any major increases in product prices (passed to the consumer) from the companies that HAVE entered into agreements with SP.

And I will also point out that WINNING a case (either way) does not mean anyone actually GETS any money instantly. Winning a judgment and collecting on a judgment are two totally different things. This is not saying that companies that lose in court don’t ever have to pay, but to be honest about it, they can take their sweet time doing so…. if EVER.

If a company does NOT pay (when a judgment is made against them) the winner will then have to take them BACK to court to GET their money. And sometimes this can happen several times without a dime being paid. Heck, if anyone thinks for a minute, I am sure they can find several high profile class action law suits that still have not paid a dime against the judgment against them. And if severe enough, a company can claim bankruptcy and write the judgment off (or delaying payment) while still staying in business.

I will also point out that just because a company is out to make money they don’t necessarily “not care” about “paintball ideals”. And what ARE these “paintball ideals”? I don’t know a single company that is only out to give players what they want…. No matter HOW “nice” people perceive them to be.

This does not mean people are NOT nice, but come on folks…… being a successful business rarely happens because someone is “nice”. This does not mean they are “not nice”, but you can’t always attach those “human” terms to the business world. How the customer views a business is often FAR from how it really is. That is what PR is for. And to run a successful business the owners must often look at things like a surgeon. Are surgeon’s “nice” or “not nice” with the decisions they make? No. But the outcome of those procedures affects the “life” of the patient….. same as with business ( and the patient being the company ).

There is a reason most businesses fail. And reading forums like these make that perfectly clear.