So who/what exactly did SP ruin?

[Lohman446]

well just becasue the courts say its ok doest mean that it was, if some one was to ask teh average joe on the street which company rightfuly owned rights to a new chemical compound and threw out some random info to him do you think that 100% of the time he will make the right choice? no

o and no im not a lawyer but my father was a contracts lawyer for 20 years
-matt

I'd ask for a paternity test.

[SR_matt]

excuse me?
-matt

[WenULiVeUdiE]

AKA is still around. They CHOSE not to make a deal with SP and therefore discontinued manufacturing Vikings and Excals. Considering you can still buy them brand new from AKA, I don't see how any damage was done. They still have them stocked.

No, papers were signed. However, those papers did not enable them to continue manufacturing Vikings and Excaliburs. It also included some others things.

[Glickman]

they ruined the faces of people who are business-ignorant by making them cry

[deathstalker]

No, papers were signed. However, those papers did not enable them to continue manufacturing Vikings and Excaliburs. It also included some others things.

Thanks for the clarification. My point is more that they COULD have inked a deal allowing them to continue, but still chose not to.

[NewbieMagMan10988]

I'd ask for a paternity test.

W T F

LOL

Mike

[Glickman]

Thanks for the clarification. My point is more that they COULD have inked a deal allowing them to continue, but still chose not to.

feel free to correct me anyone, but they COULD have still produced their guns, but they were faced with heafy royalty fees, which is the reason they stopped, not that they were physically forced correct?

a business cease-and-desist ususally has a fine print saying "... or pay us a few mill "

[deathstalker]

i dont believe thats entirely true. when he says the papers would not have let them produce them anymore, that means they couldnt produce them without paying a royalty fee. as long as you file the paper work and pay the royalty fee, you can produce with a copyrighted part.

That's exactly my point. They chose not to pay. AKA CHOSE the deal they did. They could have paid their money, but didn't. I would have a very hard time believing SP singled out any companies and refused them the chance to buy in.

[RRfireblade]

its the fact that they didnt come up with it and the fact that the patent was sooooooo wide that it was like saying "patent on a gas powered car"

IIRC wdp didnt back door at all, 2 people that haad the original patent promised it to 2 different people and thats what got messed up.

-matt

They bought the company , it came with the Patent.

They manipulated the USPTO and very likey greased examiner's pockets to get patent continuations that they never should have got. Who was more dirty? USPTO or SP ? That's anyone's guess.

SP actually got ripped by the WDP court case IMO simply cause they got misrepresented by PVI in that PVI apparently did not have full rights to the Patent they sold and got paid for.

That being said....

How SP aquired PVI is a whole other dirty story that's rarely told.

All in all , business is business and there are a hundred thousand other things that went on before that and since that know one ever hears about and has had equal or greater effect on the industry.

You have 2 choices, either get in business and play ball to survive.....or get out.

It's that simple.

[warpspyder]

You have 2 choices, either get in business and play ball to survive.....or get out.

It's that simple.

As much as many people hate SP, this is very true. SmartParts is a business. Businesses exist to survive. And with a market such as paintball that isn't as widespread as say cars, you've got do do everything in your power to get every cent you're entitled to (even if the reasons you're entitled to that money is a bit shady).

I'm in no way approving of what they *have* done, I'm just pointing out that business is business. This sort of thing is nothing new in the world of business.

I typed the word business a lot

[Lohman446]

Does anyone actually beleive AKA is still producing markers from parts they "just happened to have laying around"?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

feel free to correct me anyone, but they COULD have still produced their guns, but they were faced with heafy royalty fees, which is the reason they stopped, not that they were physically forced correct?

They were not heafty. SP would not charge $100 in royalties per gun.

Does anyone actually beleive AKA is still producing markers from parts they "just happened to have laying around"?

They were able to contiue the run of markers they were manufacturing. They still had many many raw bodies left as well as parts. Simply put, the papers AKA signed prevents them from manufacturing any new markers. Assembling and manufacturing are different.

[Lohman446]

They were not heafty. SP would not charge $100 in royalties per gun.



They were able to contiue the run of markers they were manufacturing. They still had many many raw bodies left as well as parts. Simply put, the papers AKA signed prevents them from manufacturing any new markers. Assembling and manufacturing are different.

I understand that. But who keeps a 4 year surplus of parts laying around?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

I guess it was a decently large run of parts. Vikings had started to become quite popular around the time the lawsuit happened. And afterwords popularity plumeted. Sales dropped along with prices.

[RRfireblade]

I understand that. But who keeps a 4 year surplus of parts laying around?

Why AGD of course. :)