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Leatt sues Atlas brace

frango

Turbo Monkey
Jun 13, 2007
1,454
5
Leatt Brace (GPX/DBX) Pro is not the only Leatt product... This case may not concern bicycle brace...
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,196
4,419
Is atlas the company that one of the leatt designers defected to or am I thinking of another company?
 

RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
It was bound to happen soon. They are all so close to each other design wise someone was going to step on the other ones toes.

Someone said about "why are they suing Atlas not Alpine star" easy to push around.

LOL could be some truth in that A stat is massive compared to Leatt and they would have no real chance against them, and A star prob have a very good R&D team to ensure their back is covered.

I Feel sorry for Atlas as their design is good and they have taken some important factors, like load distribution on the back and designed it into there product.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
I understand it's business and probably fair, but it's a shame that trying to stop people's necks from breaking has to become a money affair.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I understand it's business and probably fair, but it's a shame that trying to stop people's necks from breaking has to become a money affair.
As intelligent as you are, I am surprised you'd err on the side of those borrowing ideas from brilliant minds and making money off them. I'd have thought you'd side with the inventors and innovators as opposed to the next guy in line.

I'm all for patent protection. The thought of me having a great idea, shooting for making my family financially safe for the rest of their life with it...and then someone "tweaking" my original thought (thereby pilfering money from my kid's college fund) is not good.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
As I pointed out, I do understand that and think it is fair, but that's purely from a profit standpoint.

But on the flipside some healthy competition is good for consumers, and if it means a cheaper product that still offers some benefit and helps keep more kids with less money from damaging their necks and spines - I think it's for the greater good.

I think the Leatt will likely always be the brace that others are measured by anyway, they seem to have come first and have a solid marketing package to back them. I run the carbon AS brace pictured above, but I'd happily run the carbon Leatt over it if it were given to me / when I had the spare cash to grab one.

I suppose to me the differences are a) this is slightly different from stealing someone's suspension design, which for the most part benefits no one but the thief, and b) this is a case of the market leader stomping out the little guy.

I'd be interested in seeing which patents Atlas infringed on that AS didn't.
 

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
As I pointed out, I do understand that and think it is fair, but that's purely from a profit standpoint.

But on the flipside some healthy competition is good for consumers, and if it means a cheaper product that still offers some benefit and helps keep more kids with less money from damaging their necks and spines - I think it's for the greater good.

I think the Leatt will likely always be the brace that others are measured by anyway, they seem to have come first and have a solid marketing package to back them. I run the carbon AS brace pictured above, but I'd happily run the carbon Leatt over it if it were given to me / when I had the spare cash to grab one.

I suppose to me the differences are a) this is slightly different from stealing someone's suspension design, which for the most part benefits no one but the thief, and b) this is a case of the market leader stomping out the little guy.

I'd be interested in seeing which patents Atlas infringed on that AS didn't.
This was my initial response as well... However, think of it this way: with out proper patent protection it may not have been worth it to Dr. Leatt to even bring his idea to market in the first place. At one point he was the little guy with just an idea and he probably had to be very careful that businesses that already have the manufacturing infrastructure in place didn't steal it and start cranking them out before him.
 
Aug 4, 2008
328
4
This was my initial response as well... However, think of it this way: with out proper patent protection it may not have been worth it to Dr. Leatt to even bring his idea to market in the first place. At one point he was the little guy with just an idea and he probably had to be very careful that businesses that already have the manufacturing infrastructure in place didn't steal it and start cranking them out before him.
But lets consider the facts for a while shall we?

Obviously competition has found a way around patenting and pretty fast. So your point is moot.

I claim, that this patent had some utility from the marketing perspective, where some sort of certification allows the product to be viewed as legit. I also think that this lawsuit has more of marketing than business appeal.