Segway Alternative Robin M1

[goldwing_midland_tx]

Originally Posted by Tritium

Heading up to test tmw

Look forward to hear about the results

[Tritium]

Originally Posted by goldwing_midland_tx

Look forward to hear about the results

I do too, I'm skeptical but hopefully if it works out, I'll have another PT to use
I may even become a dealer, who knows...

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by Tritium

I do too, I'm skeptical but hopefully if it works out, I'll have another PT to use
I may even become a dealer, who knows...

Even if you look at it and decide it is not for you, please take lots of pictures.

[Tritium]

Originally Posted by KSagal

Even if you look at it and decide it is not for you, please take lots of pictures.

I definitely will it will be a very interesting product take a look at!

[dgbint]

Patents have 'almost' as much to do with 'business' as they do with 'technicals'.

Segway ( DEKA ) clearly holds a number of strong patents.

Almost any real business would hesitate to try to import and distribute an infringing product.
After all is said and done, if pursued by the patent holder, substantial assets could be lost.

In my view, the only potential distributors of this class of product, would be a distributor ( person or business ) with little assets to lose.
That in itself, makes them a dubious distributor, with a dubious prospect of long term support.

In a nut shell, 'would you bet your house' that distributing a Robin class product is of such high merit and potential profit ?

[KSagal]

All this talk about Segway's patents has me thinking that we may not be looking at this the same way as the rest of the planet.

This is SegwayChat. We all here love Segways. We all have some allegiance and respect for the Segway company. Most of us are owners, or at least wanna be owners of segways.

But on a global scale, whatever we think of our selves, and our size, and how big a fish we are, the Segway world is just a small puddle. The biggest fish in the segway world is a minnow in a large lake, forget about the ocean.

The reason I keep mentioning the Toyota Winglet, is not just because I believe that the robin is a much clearer rip off of the winglet than the segway. (OF course, the winglet may easily be a rip off of the Segway, but I have not heard of it being mass produced or sold to the public)

In the world of big fish, I believe the legal department at Toyota may have more sharks than the legal department of Segway, and I believe the makers of the Robin may care more about that. I don't know.

My understanding of the Chinese business model is that it gives little credence to the ownership of intellectual property. This would include anyone's patents. If they do not care if they are marketing something that belongs to someone else, then their only care would be who could fund the largest opposition.

Also, as I am fairly ignorant to these things, how long to patent protections last? Are they forever? Or do they have sunset clauses?

[PaulDV]

There appears to be one very large assumption being made by most of the detractors in this thread which is that Robstep have actually infringed Segways patents.

A self balancing scooter cannot be patented (just like you cannot patent motor car) while the method by which it works can. So, surely it is entirely possible for a competitor to devise their own self balancing scooter (I actually like the French word 'gyropode' as a generic term) using a different method thereby avoiding a patent infringement?

Either way, I would refrain from calling the Robin a knock-off until it is proven one way or the other.

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by KSagal

Also, as I am fairly ignorant to these things, how long to patent protections last? Are they forever? Or do they have sunset clauses?

In the US, it's 20 years from filing.

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by PaulDV

There appears to be one very large assumption being made by most of the detractors in this thread which is that Robstep have actually infringed Segways patents.

A self balancing scooter cannot be patented (just like you cannot patent motor car) while the method by which it works can. So, surely it is entirely possible for a competitor to devise their own self balancing scooter (I actually like the French word 'gyropode' as a generic term) using a different method thereby avoiding a patent infringement?

Either way, I would refrain from calling the Robin a knock-off until it is proven one way or the other.

That's not really accurate. Even your own logic fails -- consider describing it as "a scooter which works by self-balancing".

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...faq-29120.html

[Tritium]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

That's not really accurate. Even your own logic fails -- consider describing it as "a scooter which works by self-balancing".

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...faq-29120.html

I must agree, that wasn't well thought out.



- But this is a community forum, we shouldn't be arguing over other companies products, we should be discussing them without all the hate and anger. -