Cloned Slipperential?

[suicideneil]

Well, I just got an interesting email back from that TCS place thats selling the slipperential clones:

Originally Posted by bunch of funts

Hi,

Pls send us the document if this is patent product.

Tks,
Tcmodels
------原始訊息------

寄件者：N Ward
收件者：info@tcmodels.net
主旨： TCMODELS: slipperential
寄件時間：2010年4月4日 03:52

This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.tcmodels.net/ from:
N Ward <suicideneil@hotmail.com>

This design is copyrighted and protected by international patents, it is the intellectual property of RC-Monster.com & as such you must remove it for sale from your website, or face severe legal repercussions.


Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Please note I dont own a Blackberry, that is tagged on autonmatically by the device the responce was sent from ( the cloner ).

I'd assume patent-pending is close enough to patented to scare the cloners into stopping production & removing their version from sale? Probably wont, but if Mike sends them the patent # & info then they cant deny they havent just copied his design without realising...

[bryan]

Im going to keep asking them stupid questions untill they throw in the flag. I am temporally

[revo guy]

When you google slipperential "their" site is the first link!!!

[suicideneil]

I'd use THIS to spam them into submission...

I think Mike posted a link to his patent info once but I cant locate it,- would be handy so that I can email those a-holes back with the info to prove they are infringing on his patent and trademarks etc, see what they have to say ( if anything ).

[Semi Pro]

damn mike that sucks, if you can think of anything we can all do to help you let us know, i reported afew i found on ebay but what else could we do

[Finnster]

Relisted all the items and changed spelling so it missed by auto-search. Found it anyway and reported again.

Mike may want to contact ebay regarding this seller directly to see if they can sanction his account.

Counterfeit "slipperental" listing

[phatmonk]

I also reported this to ebay this morning.

[JERRY2KONE]

Originally Posted by Finnster

Relisted all the items and changed spelling so it missed by auto-search. Found it anyway and reported again.

Mike may want to contact ebay regarding this seller directly to see if they can sanction his account.

Counterfeit "slipperental" listing

The only way that is going to happen is if Mikes lawyer contacts EBay legal and they work something out, which still costs Mike money.

[Bondonutz]

Seller has pile of them I guess because auction pages says more than 10.

Why don't we collectively click on buy it now and don't pay. Seller will have to file claim and relist. Seller will get reimbursed by ebay for listing fee and we'll all get a Non paying bidder mark (that barely shows unless you look for it and will not be held against you)
I'd almost bet the seller will not pursue a claim at all ?

This will inconveinece the seller and take up a lot of his time, I'm game if you are ?
Bonus is we'll have access to sellers info, email,paypal email, the companys real name etc.

[George16]

You can access the company's name email etc on their website that was posted before.

[Marvin]

This absolutely does suck - big time.

Bondo, a better idea would be to set up new accounts - then do it - and therefore won't tarnish your account.

The problem we have is that it is patent pending and not an actual patent - which opens the design up to copying pretty badly - particularly if the other 'company' get a Chinese patent on it first (as the US system seems pretty slow).

[Bondonutz]

Originally Posted by Marvin

This absolutely does suck - big time.

Bondo, a better idea would be to set up new accounts - then do it - and therefore won't tarnish your account.

I've filed numerous claims against A-holes who don't pay for their items and the non paying bidder strike is a complete joke. It doesn't effect Feedback score and you have to look for the strike on the persons FB page to see it.

I'll put up to getting a couple for the greater good of RCM & Mike

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by JERRY2KONE

The only way that is going to happen is if Mikes lawyer contacts EBay legal and they work something out, which still costs Mike money.

I hope that not true (no offense Jerry!), seems overly onerous to the owner of the patent. Doesn't the DMCA obligate Ebay to stronger action if the seller is constantly abusing Ebay's service?

IDK, just seems F'd up.

[Finnster]

Here is a link for their VeRO service Maybe this can help?

eBay developed the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program to facilitate cooperation between eBay and rights owners protecting their intellectual property rights.

Highlights of the program include:

*

Expeditious removal of listings reported to eBay by over 5,000 intellectual property rights owners.
*

Proactive monitoring and removal by eBay of listings that violate eBay policies designed to prevent the listing of infringing items on eBay.
*

Ability to save searches and have the results emailed to you through Favorite Searches.
*

Suspension of repeat offenders.
*

Cooperation with rights owners seeking personal information on alleged infringers.

[RC-Monster Mike]

The Patent application is over a year old, but it simply takes a long time to get approval. I did forward the Patent registration to EBay, but they are fairly unresponsive, depite their policies. I have faxed the VERO documents twice, but they "checked their faxes and haven't been able to locate the documents" - total BS, as both faxes went through fine on my end. I am working on other avenues but again...everything takes time(and money). It is a bit discouraging to have spent tens of thousands of dollars and over 2 years of development time only to see it all ripped off despite efforts to prevent this. My best defense is to continue developing the product along the knowledge of why the product is the way that it is - a copycat is just that - they don't know what materials, processes or why the little details are the way they are(and the entire product has been engineered right down to the spring rate). I also have the ability to help in the event of any potential issues that crop up.