Speed UTV

Lord of the Dunes said:
I tend to look at what is really happening to determine whether it's effective or not. When I see a lot of broken suspensions, for example, that tells me the current design is not holding up to the current drivers and power levels of those vehicles.

So when I see the first Rzr with the front shocks attached to the lower arms, but they chose to use a clevis type attachment to the lower arm, perhaps Polaris is taking Robby's front shock mount patent claim seriously. I see no mechanical advantage to mounting the shocks with a clevis, so it appears to be a method to attach it to the lower arm without violating Robby's patent. All of the other UTVs are using the upper arm for the shock mount.
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Not saying the SPEED will not be stronger or better designed - It sure looks that way to me - I still say its a game changer Only UTV I would buy if they actually stay around ...

Just saying he filed lots of "applications" we'll see what sticks ....

 
Fullthrottleguy said:
The laws changed a few years ago requiring Prior arts - its now first to file ..

Patents are funny - Most people don't patent all the stuff Robby did  (after I looked them up today) because they are not want we would call  "inclusive". they are either methodology or narrow band.  He has things like "Off road car air conditioning"  do you think that will hold up as a patent?  If so I have Bridge In Brooklyn I can sell you.  

Or how about "Window Net door attachment"   or "Rear strut gusset attachment" you think those  gonna hold up?  I would say with a cursory look 90% of them would not hold up against a basic challenge.  

It seems he has the "pissing contest" mentality on Patents or maybe he is trying to use them to raise money or just brag to people that don't understand how Patents works ....

These we call in Silicon Valley "resume builder" patent applications

Good luck with enforcement - If you think these are worth anything - he would be suing Polaris and CanAM -  they have not patented anything substantial  because it falls under common sense ... they cannot enforce them.

A lot of his patents are applications - that means they are "claims"  - they are Not granted they may rt may not get granted- assuming any of the competitors are watching and care - they will file to stop the grant, but you can always challenge the patent  - you don't need prior art - you just need to show it was in use prior by more than oner company  - I have filed dozens and only some were granted and many were a fight to get done - a decent Patent attorney will cost you $100K  a patent if you want it to stand up - RG if he used a good attorney spent millions - you can DIY it for about $1000, but it will get reversed for sure.

I have one that IBM fought and lost and belive me they have a Lot of $$ to throw at fighting a patent claim, you have to have a solid claim.

Check out the abstract for the AC - its almost laughable:

these type of patents get through the system because "off road vehicle" is an open category.  The first challenge they get reversed.   Government makes its filing fee, and attorney makes their fee, and RG gets to brag for a while ...

Abstract: An apparatus and methods are provided for an air conditioning system for an off-road vehicle that includes an enclosed cabin. The air conditioning system includes a compressor that may be driven by an engine of the vehicle or a dedicated motor. A condenser comprising the air conditioning system may be positioned behind a grill at a front of the off-road vehicle or at a location where outside air enters an engine compartment of the off-road vehicle. An evaporator and a blower direct a cooled airstream into the enclosed cabin. One or more adjustable vents are disposed within the enclosed cabin and positioned to advantageously direct the cooled airstream to occupants within the enclosed cabin. Climate control switches are disposed in a dashboard of the off-road vehicle and configured to enable the occupants to operate the air conditioning system.

I doubted they would be up there yet since they are so new - by the patent clerk is doing a good job working at home 
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I agree that most of the patents will not get him far if he pursued litigation.

The patent clerk should be back in the office by now.  Lol!  

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
I tend to look at what is really happening to determine whether it's effective or not. When I see a lot of broken suspensions, for example, that tells me the current design is not holding up to the current drivers and power levels of those vehicles.

So when I see the first Rzr with the front shocks attached to the lower arms, but they chose to use a clevis type attachment to the lower arm, perhaps Polaris is taking Robby's front shock mount patent claim seriously. I see no mechanical advantage to mounting the shocks with a clevis, so it appears to be a method to attach it to the lower arm without violating Robby's patent. All of the other UTVs are using the upper arm for the shock mount.
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Polaris may have skirted the lower arm shock mount patent  because they did not want to be in litigation or maybe the engineers had a reason for the design.  

 
Sand Shark said:
maybe the engineers had a reason for the design.  
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Justin (love him or hate him or both) of Shock therapy  mentioned the reason for the design on one of there reviews of the R - he actually did a couple pretty good tear downs on parts of the R

 
DTA said:
I was under the assumption he got burned pretty good by Polaris.

I know he got some out of it, but some contractual language sided with Polaris more than RG.

ETA, I could be wrong. Just what I heard. 
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It's near impossible to beat the big companies in the contract negotiation.  They make it a sign this or no deal.  You can stand your ground and not get the deal or give in and hope for the best.

When I was doing OEM for Apple  before going to work there thats the way it was.  we have $150M contract and my lawyers said NO way should you sign this - we looked at and said 100M sales now .. 250M with Apple so we signed - for us it worked out for a year thjen they basically competed with us .. but we still were better due to the contract,

 
NIKAL said:
He beat the big companies. He won against Polaris.

I’m told not all litigation is final with Textron Arctic Cat, but he was told he was free to take his designs and shop them around. He was released of his non compete clauses with Arctic Cat. He was able to hold on to all his patents against Arctic Cat. I do believe Todd & Robby had to release all royalties from the sales of the XX. But as Todd Romano said, big deal! They might sell 3000-4000 XX’s this year, and that’s still Arctic Cats best selling machine. Bass Pro pulled the plug on rebranding the XX, and they was expected to double sales. Theres a whole other story behind the Bass Pro Tracker too. 
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The lawsuit against Polaris was a no brainer.  He was no longer under contract and they did not have his agreement to use his name or likeness.   Much different type of lawsuit versus a patent lawsuit.  

The big corps will just outspend you in attorneys and experts in a patent suit.  Patent lawsuits are not cheap and if you go down that road you better have a dead bang winner.  

It was disappointing that Textron pulled the rug out from RG and Todd.  I have high hopes for them producing multiple sport machines including a turbo model.  If they had a turbo XX I would have bought one. 

 
EPA/Carb must have quite a storage facility full of cars. Talk about some cool "barn finds". 

 
Man the closer the unicorn gets to being manf., the more the fan-boys come out of the wood work.

If you skip over all or most of their responses this is actually a rather entertaining thread. 

But according to them robbie walks on water, and here I thought that job was already taken.  

 
stonehenge said:
Man the closer the unicorn gets to being manf., the more the fan-boys come out of the wood work.

If you skip over all or most of their responses this is actually a rather entertaining thread. 

But according to them robbie walks on water, and here I thought that job was already taken.  
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It is spelled Robby, Nikal has pointed that out on more than one occasion, try to keep up. LOL

 
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