Smart Parts taken on;sued

[1stdeadeye]

Does anyone else find it a little strange that a patent issue has been brought up in a wisconsin district court? If it is a patent dispute, why is this not a federal issue? Something is not right here... I am not sure what is going on, but I think the fields are the target more than SP itself.

And if the fields are being sued only because of the fact they carry SP markers why are the other WI fields exempt? Something sounds very fishy to me..

Did you read the above link?

It was filed in THE US DISTRICT COURT IN THE Western District of Wisconsin ! There are plenty US District courts all accross America!

[1stdeadeye]

My take on this is....... that Thordic is a pretty smart guy.

AGD

Don't say that too loud. Thordic might get a swollen head!

[cledford]

Its not just the display though, thats an oversimplification

I see things in there about sensors - pressure sensors, shot sensors, etc. I imagine that a lot of electronic markers use these as well to regulate firing, though I have no idea if thats true or not.

Well,

The one constant I keep reading about in the WDP patent is a display to output changes made by pushing input (buttons). The Shocker (not sure about the imp) has got to be one of the simplest markers with regard to each - a single LED for output, and a single button on the new models. (POTS on the old) The only feedback you get from the new shocker is "on or off" and if it has "vision" a second blink to show that it is on. The older Shocker has a *slightly* more sophisticated UI in that when turning the timing POTs if you go out of range you'll get a certain flash pattern. Actually, I think it will also flash a different color for low battery. It is clearly within the WDP patent IF a "terminal" can be defined as anything that displays information electronically.


Here is the REAL KICKER - if you read SP's latest patent application, they patent a similar set of functions!!!! I remember reading that they wanted to put sensors in the gun, electrically control dwell, and do all other sorts of "on the fly" collection and processing of data. Now how's that going to affect the outcome? 2 different companies patenting similar sets of features...

-Calvin

[GT]

My take on this is....... that Thordic is a pretty smart guy.

AGD

yep,
although it would be nice if other compaines that hel simliar broad patents would do the same....

[Linx]

From what I was told the reason WDP is going after Wisconsin dealers is because their parent company has and office in or around Milwaukee.

Since we are talking about some local fields I will throw in a shameless plug for a tournament we are hosting at Stalker.

Team Fuzz Bomb will be hosting a 5 man "Open" event at Stalker Paintball in Lyndon Station, WI. (about 10 minutes north of WI Dells)

The date is May 23rd
Registration is $125 per team (advance registration required)
Free AIR with registration
Paint is $75 a case.

Prizes will be 100% Payback in cash and trophies - awarded to the top three finishing teams.

To register e-mail Stalker at: [email protected]

[notcreative]

I beilve that this will hurt wdp in long run more. Sp and wdp will more than likely come to an agreement. But with wdp's choice to sue the stores they will lose bussiness from retail stores across america. my expereince with pb store owners is that they are indepent minded and do not like to be told what to do and will simply stop ordering from wdp. which alot of stores in my region have already stopped doing. Mostly because they feel wdp is putting out overpriced markers and have had enough with dealing with poor service from them.

[TheTramp]

The reason the fields were added to the suit is that they "knowingly" distribute a product that violates a standing patent.

Now before anyone freaks out at the "knowingly" comment...

This is a standard legal practice. When you distribute a product you are held liable for what's called the "state of the art." This means that you should be just as knowledgeable as the manufacture as to the product and its hazardous nature or any other legal problem (ie. patent issues).

An analogy can be made with asbestos products my firm deals with:

Obviously the manufacture should be up to date with all the relevant scientific reports/medical journal information. As soon as a paper was published showing that asbestos is linked to cancer they should have stopped producing asbestos products. The companies that distributed the products are held to the same standard. That didn't happen so all companies involved are liable at least back to the first indication that asbestos is hazardous. The responsibility of the companies was to constantly be aware of the "state of the art" information.

The case here says that SP "knew" their guns violated the WDP patent (because the patent was a matter of public record) yet continued to produce them. The fields (really their pro-shops) which distributed the SP guns should have also known that those guns violated the WDP patent so they are just as liable.


I'm not saying all of this is "right" or "wrong" to go after the fields/pro-shops just that it's within the law.


I agree with Thordic that going after the fields is really just "kicking it up a notch." and they aren't the real target. If no one will sell SP guns for fear of getting sued then SP will be SOL.

[Andyman]

good thing somebody stepped in to halt SP

[No Excuse]

WDP hold many patents that are used by other paintball companies.

Its not going to kill the industry, look at electronics companies like Sony, they hold hundreds of patents but they lease them out, hell most of the components you can buy from various electronics companies are made in the same factory!

Unlike SP, WDP will look to the long term, they know the sport is too small to upset the apple cart, their business is not to *POOF* people over like SP.

Given WDP and SPs relationship a settlement couldn't happen between these two. I dont want to say too much here but look at what features are on many electo markers but not on even the newest Shockers or impulses, there is a reason for that.

Now this lawsuit concerns more than just a patent infringement.
SP have dropped a bollock here and they are going to pay, personally I hope they go out of business all together, thats no worse than what they have done to others.

[Evil Bob]

Its about time this finally hit the light of day, WDP has been working on this for quite some time now and it looks like their lawyers have put together a pretty solid case.

Whether they actually settle or not remains to be seen, but I highly doubt that WDP is interested in a monetary settlement, I believe they want to see the Gardners shut down and exposed for the scam artists they are, hence the request for a jury to hear the arguments and settle the case. This is a good thing as the Gardner's pre-existing history of prior patent fraud will be their own worst enemy as well all know, it will be brought up in court. I also believe that we will finally see the broad SP patents rendered null and void.

-Evil Bob

[jesseyo13]

all I have to say is "GOOOO WDP!"

[cledford]

Its about time this finally hit the light of day, WDP has been working on this for quite some time now and it looks like their lawyers have put together a pretty solid case.

Whether they actually settle or not remains to be seen, but I highly doubt that WDP is interested in a monetary settlement, I believe they want to see the Gardners shut down and exposed for the scam artists they are, hence the request for a jury to hear the arguments and settle the case. This is a good thing as the Gardner's pre-existing history of prior patent fraud will be their own worst enemy as well all know, it will be brought up in court. I also believe that we will finally see the broad SP patents rendered null and void.

-Evil Bob

I hope you are right! In my experience (and as illustrated by just the legal wrangling here in PB) it is almost ALWAYS about the money. I frankly don't get the vibe that WDP has anymore love and generosity towards the PB world then SP - but I could be wrong. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

-Calvin

[Thourne]

I don't want to see WDP go crazy on the patents anymore than anyone else, but even if they were to start enforcing their patents with every paintball company I wouldn't say one bad thing about them. Reason? Their patents were attained in a fair and legal way, and they were the ones who actually created the product that has been patented.

SP's patent that they have made such a stink about was retroactively granted after SP figured out it would be worth pursuing and this is the reason I was so upset with SP's lawsuit campaign. They didn't develop anything they are suing for and all the designs they sued are IMO far superior to their own. In the WDP C&D, everything they were suing for was something that is actually on some model of their gun. They spent the money on R&D and they actually created it, and didn't go about attaining the patent in an unethical underhanded way that screwed the rest of the industry. I would even bet that these other companies that have products using these WDP patents actually have some sort of an agreement. But Mr. Lawsuit Happy Gardner probably ignored WDP patents (which preceed his) when he applied for his patents and figured he could just sue his way out of it later.

IMO this is sweet honest justice. I'd just love to see a picture of the Gardner's having the crush, melt, or otherwise rend inoperable a batch of Shockers and Impulses. I really couldn't stand SP after all the stuff I've seen and heard about lately so this is good stuff.

[Crighton]

Well at least stalker was never a large distributer of SP markers. Mostly AKA, WGP, Tippmann and Kingsman markers there.

With the rare SP special order.

[1stdeadeye]

I have not seen SP's defender Warped1 post yet in this thread. Hmmmm.....