mrp still wants a bite of e13's amazing product line:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/mrp-xgc-2008.html
you have to give them credit for trying
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/mrp-xgc-2008.html
you have to give them credit for trying
the mrp/e13 battle continues
- Thread starter TWeerts
- Start date
so they copied the taco & its mounting system and found a different target demograph?
This reminds me of a Maddox rant. VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM. F.
This reminds me of a Maddox rant. VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM. F.
this is lame and totally in bad taste. It seems like literally everything e13 does, mrp is the absolute first to copy.
Apparently e13 is MRP's R&D team. Dave why didn't you let me know?
Apparently e13 is MRP's R&D team. Dave why didn't you let me know?
Sorry, did I miss something? Where did e13 market an xc version of the LG1 taco?
see my prior post.
well..it is basically a carbon copy of the e13 except the taco has one more anchor. i guess they dont have much inspiration as to what else you can do witha chainguide that e13 hasn´t done already excepr for that al carbon fibre version they got which is pretty sweet
e13 has nothing like that and it looks really handy for xc bikes. I dont need a full bash guard or a chain system on an xc bike.
According to someone in the know...
The patent ONLY covers a half circle guide with a direct BB sandwich mount for XC bikes. Apparently it isn't strong enough / enforceable and they are trying to refile the patent.
This guide DOES NOT fall under their patent, no matter what they claim.
"a semi-circumferential guard portion". Sorry, but the patent lawyers/engineers at MRP must have failed geometry. What they have on their product is NOT a semi circle. In their disclosure, it is also always shows as a semi circle. There is no way around it.
The patent ONLY covers a half circle guide with a direct BB sandwich mount for XC bikes. Apparently it isn't strong enough / enforceable and they are trying to refile the patent.
This guide DOES NOT fall under their patent, no matter what they claim.
"a semi-circumferential guard portion". Sorry, but the patent lawyers/engineers at MRP must have failed geometry. What they have on their product is NOT a semi circle. In their disclosure, it is also always shows as a semi circle. There is no way around it.
it is a device to protect your chainrings. patents be damned, it is a good idea. to hell with "copy" arguments. e13 didn't see the need to move ahead with the XC version and MRP did.
edit - btw, i want one. that thing is awesome.
edit - btw, i want one. that thing is awesome.
BLAH BLAH BLAH: "e-13" "MRP"!
WHO CARES! Go ride for christ's sake.
WHO CARES! Go ride for christ's sake.
Patent lawyers care.
Are there any patent lawyers riding bikes around here?
Didn't think so.
Didn't think so.
Translation: open mouth, insert foot.
Wanna bet on that? I'll also lay down some money that more than a few people on here are actually involved in said dispute.
Also, MRP needs to hire their own RD people rather than simply trying to rip off the competition for each and every product lately.
its actually kind of a sad state of affairs. MRP used to be where the buck stopped in terms of chainguides. They just aren't the innovative company they used to be. And don't misconstrue that as me saying that they don't manufacture quality products.
It is indeed pretty pathetic.
Because some of us haul ass
Here we go again. There can't be any discussion on this board about a MRP product without it turning into who ripped who off.
99.999% of the people on this board could care less.
There are probably lawyer forums for this crap. Does it work? Great. I'll buy it.
99.999% of the people on this board could care less.
There are probably lawyer forums for this crap. Does it work? Great. I'll buy it.
how much more innovation do we need in the chainguide? the current market is pretty durable and pretty light, and they run with little friction and mount on a variety of frames.
not seeing much innovation in the rim market lately, care to comment on the pathetic nature of mavic?
not seeing much innovation in the rim market lately, care to comment on the pathetic nature of mavic?
The same could be said about Burger King. Do you think they invest a dime into their real estate purchases? Let McDonald's spend all the $$ on the effort then buy a piece of land within 1/10 of a mile.
Is it right? I don't know, I think it's kinda ****ty, but who cares. Sometimes the Whopper tastes better than a Big Mac.
So ignore the thread then? Did someone make you read it?
As for every thread turning into an MRP ripped off someone discussion...that's pretty telling isn't it?
Cause the new Yeti 575 has crappy tire clearance. Boo!
They actually filed a patent for a chainguide with a taco-like bashguard way the hell back in '02 (http://www.google.com/patents?id=IEJ3AAAAEBAJ&dq=patent:7066856&as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=1&as_miny_ap=2008&as_maxm_ap=1&as_maxy_ap=2008&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=2008&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2008), but as Fraser said, they basicaly F-ed up and only wrote the patent to cover a guide that mounts via a bottom bracket friction fit. It's kind of funny, actually - you have to give them credit for coming up with the idea to put a fixed guard down there that doesn't mount to the cranks, but you have to laugh at the fact that they neglected to write in anything to do with chainguide mounts (despite the fact that the old ISCG standard was already being widely implemented).
Another interesting thing to note is that MRP's printing their patent number on their version of the taco, when in reality, the patent doesn't really cover the taco itself (especially if the taco is mounted to a guide that's bolted up via chainguide tabs or any sort of ISCG adapter). Back when I did practice law, I never did anything with IP, but one has to wonder about the legality of writing a patent number on something that isn't explicitly patented.
--JP
I think the mrp/e13 battle is quickly going to turn into the same deal as the east cost / west coast rapper battle.
If DW is Biggie, then who is 2-Pac?
If DW is Biggie, then who is 2-Pac?
Because some of us haul ass
Speaking of ass...Does that girl you have for sale in the classifieds have three rings?
Not to mention the taco itself on that guide shown is not semi circular, as they claim it has to be for their patent.
Way to go MRP!
She does in fact get ridden at a wide variety of speeds.
The first E13...then EVIL chainguide had 2 rollers. MountainSpeed had had guides with rollers for a long time before that. So there!
It's easy to get carried away with this petty dispute when your as invovled in the biking industry as it appears you are. However take a step back, and if you exhaust yourself as much as you are on this type of "copying" on the millions more cases of "copying" that happen about every single day in other industrys you'd be dead of exhaustion. It's a waste to care, let the lawyers do their job and let e.13 and MRP spend the money on them.
What we have here is not a case of MRP simply copying e.13's "TACO" idea, but instead its called PROGRESSION. its pretty silly that an assembly of metal and plastic with no moving parts can bring such discrimination towards a company. And what makes you think MRP does not have any "RD" into this? Are you saying you want them to go hire people who demand rediculous salary's so they can say they have an official sect of MRP labeled "R&D" when what they have going on is obviously working, and working well if theres already a call for OEM deliveries by April. What more do they need to research? what more do they need to design? They have a product that has not previously been developed in its current form, and it is something that has a market, just like the SRS of years ago.
Let progression happen and go back to driving your Model T
This dispute is up there in lameness as are the ones of "copying the Horst/FSR link" or any other patent. Without close copys (disputes) theres nothing to push the parent company off their high horse's and develope something new in a hurry to maintain control of their market. Its kinda like war promoting technology in a way, but much less violent.
Well said.
whatever dude.It's easy to get carried away with this petty dispute when your as invovled in the biking industry as it appears you are. However take a step back, and if you exhaust yourself as much as you are on this type of "copying" on the millions more cases of "copying" that happen about every single day in other industrys you'd be dead of exhaustion. It's a waste to care, let the lawyers do their job and let e.13 and MRP spend the money on them.
What we have here is not a case of MRP simply copying e.13's "TACO" idea, but instead its called PROGRESSION. its pretty silly that an assembly of metal and plastic with no moving parts can bring such discrimination towards a company. And what makes you think MRP does not have any "RD" into this? Are you saying you want them to go hire people who demand rediculous salary's so they can say they have an official sect of MRP labeled "R&D" when what they have going on is obviously working, and working well if theres already a call for OEM deliveries by April. What more do they need to research? what more do they need to design? They have a product that has not previously been developed in its current form, and it is something that has a market, just like the SRS of years ago.
Let progression happen and go back to driving your Model T
This dispute is up there in lameness as are the ones of "copying the Horst/FSR link" or any other patent. Without close copys (disputes) theres nothing to push the parent company off their high horse's and develope something new in a hurry to maintain control of their market. Its kinda like war promoting technology in a way, but much less violent.
You're all forgetting the bottom line here: xc bikes don't need bashguards.
yes, they do.
no go back to receiving the bacon.
no go back to receiving the bacon.
Perhaps we should affix guards to all the rocks, stumps and other hungry grabbers on the trail! I wonder if e13 owns a patent on that.
aren't you guys aware? when those kinds of obstacles show themselves during an xc ride, you're supposed to go into trials mode, not dh mode. Rear wheel hop that sh*t!! Oh, and FYI xc rides follow NATS rules, so no sprocket/bash moves are allowed 
edit: I own the patent on rocks.
edit: I own the patent on rocks.
DAMN! Welp, if e13 and MRP can steal (innovate) from each other, (along with every other company in the world) perhaps so can we.
So e13 copied MRP but included the ISGS mounting??
I swear, the market for bash guards must be huge for all these guys to being paying big bucks for patents and lawyers.