Fwd: [MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN] TwoEvo dual suspension dirtbike test
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Tom
Nov 13, 2020, 8:51:27 AM11/13/20
to VinMoto
Here is an interesting story about a ground breaking idea and intellectual property. This is concerning an entirely new front suspension for dirt bikes and mountain bikes but the story is not about motorcycles.
Tom
Tom
-------- Original message --------
From: Alan Lapp <al...@levelfive.com>
Date: 11/12/2020 10:07 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN Mailing List <mc-chass...@lists.micapeak.com>
Subject: Re: [MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN] TwoEvo dual suspension dirtbike test
I’m curious how many iterations you’ve been through up to this point.
——————
Patents are basically like the title to a motorcycle - basically, proof of ownership. Just like a motorcycle, that alone does not prevent theft, but what it does is give you priority in legal dealings. Some wag described a patent as a license to sue IP thieves. But here’s the thing: without it, you are simply NOT protected from IP theft AT ALL. In other words, it’s bad with it and worse without it.
Another analogy is that a patent is also a little like being married. It lets the 98% of honest people know to keep their hands off without permission, but the remaining 2% (people who just ain’t care) are not deterred from trying to sleep with your spouse by silly little words and a shiny ring.
You can reach out to Norman Hossack on FB and invite him to share his experiences with patents — It’s probably a convoluted but very interesting story.
I personally believe that your IP *is* valuable.
——————
Here’s my family story on innovation and patentable IP. My grandfather was a competitive distance-shooting archer, and his day job was as the Dean of Physics at the University of Iowa. This would be in the late ‘50s, btw. My Dad, a mechanical engineer, and my Grandad worked together on the idea of mechanically enhancing the storage and release of kinetic energy in bows.
The very first idea in 1958 was modeled using a ruler, hinges, brackets and a rubber band. As they developed the idea, they tried using different materials - bakelite, aluminum sheet, and cast aluminum. They varied the string length, and the string crossings and string anchoring locations.
Grandad was friends with Fred Bear, the founder of Bear Archery - they commissioned laminated bows from him with extremely stiff limbs, which they used as a chassis for their experiments. They plotted the curve of string pull weight over pull distance very methodically, seeking to achieve a specific curve. By 1962 they developed cams that would put the maximum pull weight about 2” before maximum pull distance, after which, pull weight decreased dramatically. (I have in my possession 3 of these prototypes.)
This pull weight curve had 2 benefits: in archery, people can brute-strength pull much more string weight than they can actually shoot with, so even though the peak string weight is quite heavy, the reduced string weight at max pull allows an archer to aim with a significantly more relaxed arm, greatly improving accuracy.
Being an academic, my Grandad believed that his invention was novel and with merit, but he wanted it in public domain for the altruistic benefit of the sport of archery, which he loved... without personal enrichment.
Fast forward to the mid-70s during a **PATENT DISPUTE** between Fred Bear Archery and Ben Pearson Archery: my father was called by the prosecution as a witness — Bear was suing Pearson for infringement! Fred Bear correctly assessed the value of the compound bow, and patented it. Unfortunately, my dyed-in-the-wool academic Grandad did not.
Every. Single. Sporting goods store has a dozen or more models of compound bow, all manufactured under license of a patent, if it’s a Bear Archery patent, I couldn’t tell you, but SOMEONE is making money on every one of those bows.
Meanwhile, I can’t complain about my life, but the fact is that my daily driver bike is 15 years old with 80k miles on it. It would be *different* (impossible to say better or worse) had my Grandad been either wiser about commerce, or more open to advice about commerce.
a
———————————————
Fortune sides with him who dares.
— Virgil
———————————————
> On Nov 12, 2020, at 1:15 PM, Laurence Smith <suspens...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I am about to get some Highend Legal/business advice just to cover/protect
> myself and know where I stand on this....see what happens.
——————
Patents are basically like the title to a motorcycle - basically, proof of ownership. Just like a motorcycle, that alone does not prevent theft, but what it does is give you priority in legal dealings. Some wag described a patent as a license to sue IP thieves. But here’s the thing: without it, you are simply NOT protected from IP theft AT ALL. In other words, it’s bad with it and worse without it.
Another analogy is that a patent is also a little like being married. It lets the 98% of honest people know to keep their hands off without permission, but the remaining 2% (people who just ain’t care) are not deterred from trying to sleep with your spouse by silly little words and a shiny ring.
You can reach out to Norman Hossack on FB and invite him to share his experiences with patents — It’s probably a convoluted but very interesting story.
I personally believe that your IP *is* valuable.
——————
Here’s my family story on innovation and patentable IP. My grandfather was a competitive distance-shooting archer, and his day job was as the Dean of Physics at the University of Iowa. This would be in the late ‘50s, btw. My Dad, a mechanical engineer, and my Grandad worked together on the idea of mechanically enhancing the storage and release of kinetic energy in bows.
The very first idea in 1958 was modeled using a ruler, hinges, brackets and a rubber band. As they developed the idea, they tried using different materials - bakelite, aluminum sheet, and cast aluminum. They varied the string length, and the string crossings and string anchoring locations.
Grandad was friends with Fred Bear, the founder of Bear Archery - they commissioned laminated bows from him with extremely stiff limbs, which they used as a chassis for their experiments. They plotted the curve of string pull weight over pull distance very methodically, seeking to achieve a specific curve. By 1962 they developed cams that would put the maximum pull weight about 2” before maximum pull distance, after which, pull weight decreased dramatically. (I have in my possession 3 of these prototypes.)
This pull weight curve had 2 benefits: in archery, people can brute-strength pull much more string weight than they can actually shoot with, so even though the peak string weight is quite heavy, the reduced string weight at max pull allows an archer to aim with a significantly more relaxed arm, greatly improving accuracy.
Being an academic, my Grandad believed that his invention was novel and with merit, but he wanted it in public domain for the altruistic benefit of the sport of archery, which he loved... without personal enrichment.
Fast forward to the mid-70s during a **PATENT DISPUTE** between Fred Bear Archery and Ben Pearson Archery: my father was called by the prosecution as a witness — Bear was suing Pearson for infringement! Fred Bear correctly assessed the value of the compound bow, and patented it. Unfortunately, my dyed-in-the-wool academic Grandad did not.
Every. Single. Sporting goods store has a dozen or more models of compound bow, all manufactured under license of a patent, if it’s a Bear Archery patent, I couldn’t tell you, but SOMEONE is making money on every one of those bows.
Meanwhile, I can’t complain about my life, but the fact is that my daily driver bike is 15 years old with 80k miles on it. It would be *different* (impossible to say better or worse) had my Grandad been either wiser about commerce, or more open to advice about commerce.
a
———————————————
Fortune sides with him who dares.
— Virgil
———————————————
> On Nov 12, 2020, at 1:15 PM, Laurence Smith <suspens...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I am about to get some Highend Legal/business advice just to cover/protect
> myself and know where I stand on this....see what happens.
Bruce Truxall
Nov 13, 2020, 1:04:49 PM11/13/20
to co-ohv...@googlegroups.com
Good story; sad but true. Personal integrity is a wonderful but relatively rare commodity in this world , and I have learned to generally not expect it of others if anything of value is involved.
Sounds pretty harsh when I write it out, but there it is.
From: co-ohv...@googlegroups.com <co-ohv...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tom <tomte...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2020 8:51 AM
To: VinMoto <co-ohv...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Co-OhVinmoto] Fwd: [MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN] TwoEvo dual suspension dirtbike test
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2020 8:51 AM
To: VinMoto <co-ohv...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Co-OhVinmoto] Fwd: [MC-CHASSIS-DESIGN] TwoEvo dual suspension dirtbike test
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