FJ Cruisers of Northern California

MT vs Demello lawsuit - blue forum

Thought I'd post the link since both have been All Cal sponsors in the past, at least to my knowledge

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/general-discussion/145785-rea...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by tacocat on April 18, 2012 at 4:28pm

I was reading it, thinking, "WOW! These people are really adults?" I couldn't believe how adamant some people were on hating Metal Tech. Obviously, plenty of people watch Law & Order and legal shows. This isn't TV or a medical injury case. JD will not be forced to pay a billion dollars, be forced to shut down, or have his garage stripped overnight by the government, Tokyo Drift style.

JD will be fine, he's an excellent fabricator, and silders are just a small part of the business. See RockSolidToys.com.

I like the Norcal Room, it's more in tune with most off-roaders. Most FJ forums tend to be ...different.

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Permalink Reply by Bozly on April 19, 2012 at 9:07am

It is sad that this topic came to the public forums. This is between Mark and Jason and NO BODY else, what we as a community say or think is irrelevant to the case and is only creating animosity towards one or the other of these great vendors. IF there are TM infringements, it is for the two guys involved or the courts to figure out, hopefully MT and DO on their own, but what this is most certainly NOT is a public opinion poll for resolve.

There will be no winner in all of this. Sure, either Mark will have his TM upheld or Jason will be able to keep making his sliders but in the end, there will be sides taken and bad feeling developed within the off road community. This whole debacle is costing huge amounts of time and money for both companies which would be MUCH better spent in developing product rather than dealing with lawyers, sitting in court and responding to the growing number of ridiculous and idiotic comments people are making to apparently just fan the flames of a fight.

Looking forward to a quick and equitable resolution.

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Permalink Reply by downy_ball on April 19, 2012 at 9:48am

word...

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Permalink Reply by Overlander36 on April 19, 2012 at 11:07am

John,

With all due respect I disagree with you on this. This particular law suit is between MT and DO, but the TM isue goes much farther than just this case. MT has been using a team of hired guns to threaten and sue 11 other manufacturers that they claim are infringing on their TM by building kick out sliders. Prior to this they sued White Knuckle Off Road among others. While the courts will indeed settle this, the outcome will likely not be based on truth or justice, but on who is willing to throw the most money at it.

As I understand it the TM in question was filed for by MT in 2009 for a fairly generic kick out slider design which MT layed claim to as their original idea, though MT in their own statement says the design has been in the public domain since 2004.The original TM claim was dismissed as too broad, (kind of like trying to TM the spoon as your own original idea) and MT spent the next 3 years trying to get a TM to filing to stick. They were succesful in 2011, geting a TM on the angle of the joint of the tubes. MT says in their filings that the double loop kick out slider is as identifiable to them as the coke bottle is to coca cola.

The manufacturers that were producing the sliders that MT now has an issue with, were doing nothing wrong by manufacturing their own version of a very common slider design as there were no TMs prior to 2011, and no one had laid claim to the design.

If MT truley invented the kick out slider, then I am behind them all the way. But it apears that they are just trying to tie up the market using a team of lawyers to threaten and intimadate their competition. I think this sets a dangerous precedent in the small off road fabrication community, and only srves to stifle creativity, as anyone who comes out with a design or a new version of a design must now worry that years down the road someone will lay claim to the design, TM it and sue.

I think it is time for MT to realize its a very popular design, weather it was theirs or someone elses, but that horse has long since left the barn. I think MT should rethink their whole approach to this (though that horse has also left the barn). They are letting their lawyers (whos only stake in this is billable hours) cloud their good judgment and putting them in a very unappealing light. Next time MT has a brilliant original idea maybe they will TM it prior to taking it to market.

Just my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by DivnGirl on April 19, 2012 at 1:34pm

Ditto John!

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Permalink Reply by gringo on April 19, 2012 at 9:56am

In hindsight, I shouldn't have posted the blue forum discussion link here. It did or does not add any value. My initial thought was it may be of interest to some who do not read on the blue forums, a case of clicking before thinking out. If anyone feels the same, I'll ask Tater to just remove the topic. I've never commented on any of the forums and have no interest or opinion whatsoever on the topic.

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Permalink Reply by Bozly on April 19, 2012 at 10:15am

I in no means was referring to your post Gringo, I meant it should have never been brought up in the first place, it's really no ones business but the peoples involved but I think we can all learn something about how this has turned more into a witch hunt than a rational public discussion.

At least here it seems to have remained mostly sane and civil.

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Permalink Reply by DivnGirl on April 19, 2012 at 1:34pm

Gringo, don't feel bad about it...I'm glad you did. This issue would have been blasted out to the FJC community anyhow. It's just embarrassing that the FJC community has reacted the way it has. Truly embarrassing.

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Permalink Reply by tacocat on April 19, 2012 at 1:56pm

No doubt. JU wouldn't behave that way. Pirate wouldn't behave that way. EP wouldn't behave that way. It's one thing to discuss it, and it's another to be a zealot playing armchair lawyer.

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Permalink Reply by MoreFJland on April 19, 2012 at 3:34pm

Gringo, threads like this are good information for us. The only down side to any thread may be childish reactions, like what happened on the BR. You can’t control that. Unless this post turns into the same mean spirited exchange, I don’t see any reason for it to be removed.

(Now who was that idiot on page 2 of this thread who pissed me off. I need to post what a dumbass they are) :-)