Pylon patents.

[bigpoppakdog]

Not sure if I am violating any rules here?? But with companies that actually build pylons/towers and such..what is the legal recourse they have on home made pylons/towers? The reason I ask is that i had a company offer a free pylon if I make a video like I did with my home made one. Should I be worried about patent infringment or anything?

 

[sebber83]

Re: Pylon patents.

From my experience when I rode mountain bikes for a living, if one made a copy of another one's frame design without planning to market it or sell it, they weren't hassled in any way. The mind set was that if you did not profit from the building of a product, it was not worth pursuing. But that was the mountain world of the early 2000's, who knows what people can stir poop for these days!

 

[made in china]

Re: Pylon patents.

Not sure if I am violating any rules here?? But with companies that actually build pylons/towers and such..what is the legal recourse they have on home made pylons/towers? The reason I ask is that i had a company offer a free pylon if I make a video like I did with my home made one. Should I be worried about patent infringment or anything?

If you build something for yourself, it should be OK. It's when you start making a business out of it. If it makes you feel better, you can "make an improvement" over the design you "copied". Any small, intentional change will mean that you didn't make an exact copy, which is really the only way anyone could sue you or ask you to cease using what you built.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Pylon patents.

thanks for the replies. No, I am not profitting from it. My design is simple...you can look at the video at www.youtube.com/bigpoppakdog

The pylon has to consist of a pole and cable tie downs...so I am not sure what could be patended?

 

[semo549]

Re: Pylon patents.

I plan on making a pylon in the next few weeks. I'm planning on using a floor jack for the pole and welding a 2" trailor ball to the top to attach the rope. Seems like a pretty cheap and easy alternative to buying a $1000 tower.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Pylon patents.

.... you can "make an improvement" over the design you "copied". Any small, intentional change will mean that you didn't make an exact copy, which is really the only way anyone could sue you or ask you to cease using what you built.

That is a popular misconception, but is simply not true. I work in an R&D facility for a large company and we have to deal with patent issues quite often. If it's obvious that your design started out life as the other guy's design then you're probably infringing on his patent.

However, I agree with the sentiment that if you're just building something for your own personal use and not to make a profit then nobody's going to mess with you.

Way way off tipic:

IMHO the patent process has gotten way out of hand. It started out with the intention of stimulating innovation, so that inventers wouldn't be afraid that others would steal ideas etc. Lately it's gotten to where the patent system is doing just the opposite of what it was intended for, part of the problem is that they'll grant patents for stuff that really shouldn't be patented, probably because the patent office is way behind the times in terms of technical expertise. My company is having issues with a new product design that about 4 or 5 different companies all were working on at the same time. The basic design is pretty obvious to anyone in the industry. The one company that had the fastest patent lawyers and won the patent is now suing the other companies, all of whom indepently developed this without having to copy anything.

 

[hckplyers]

Re: Pylon patents.

Bigpoppacdog, I noticed the wakeboard hanging off the side, did you make the backet? If so could you share with us, I've been looking a self manufactuered wakeboard, ski brackets. Thanks

 

[chirkowatson]

Re: Pylon patents.

A water ski tow assembly for installation in a boat, comprising a cylindrical resilient pylon of two-piece construction, said pylon being tapered from its mounting end to an apex, said apex being a hemispherical cap. A mounting base plate, said pylon being adapted to be mounted on said base plate and said base plate being adapted to be mounted on a floor of the boat wherein said two pieces of said pylon are adapted to be separated and a fishing seat apparatus is adapted to be mounted to a base portion of said pylon upon removal of a top portion thereof.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Pylon patents.

um.....what?


Also, my wakeboard bracket? Was a $5 ladder hook you can buy at walmart or any hardware store that is suppose to mount in your garage. I mounted it to the side of my boat.

 

[oh2fl]

Re: Pylon patents.

Thanks for sharing, and to ask: would you mind if I followed your idea and installed something similar in my Sea Ray? The boys are starting the wakeboard skilld, and the lower rope setup just doesn't seem to allow them to do well...