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I worked as an Engineer for 40 years in Aerospace. My experience is not only did we have to have a patent on our products, but we also had to have the words "patent pending" on the nameplate in order to protect our IP. I am following this thread with interest to see if MBH has a leg to stand on without any patents on their header design. I do feel very sorry for them, it is terrible to spend a lot of time and effort to develop a good product just to have someone rip it off. It's a shame.
I worked as an Engineer for 40 years in Aerospace. My experience is not only did we have to have a patent on our products, but we also had to have the words "patent pending" on the nameplate in order to protect our IP. I am following this thread with interest to see if MBH has a leg to stand on without any patents on their header design. I do feel very sorry for them, it is terrible to spend a lot of time and effort to develop a good product just to have someone rip it off. It's a shame.
Don't get me wrong, if it's a true carbon copy I feel bad. That sucks, but there are ways to go about it. Lawyer can even contact mbworld and have them put this advertisement on hold till it the investigation is completed. But allowing your emotions to get the best of you and make it a public affair is a bit too much. I get where they're coming from, it's just being handled extremely poorly in a PR way.
thats the thing with small businesses one man show trying to run everything. sometimes they are good at PR sometimes they just let emotions run wild. The thing is that mbh hires a lawyer and tried to scare autotalent into where they have to whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate said fresh and there were dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought naw forget it, yo homes to bel-air! I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and I yelled to the cabbie “yo homes smell ya later!” Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there. To settle my throne as the prince of bel-air.
Do you understand what it is like to devote yourself to something? I spent the last decade designing and building products only for Mercedes only to have my hard work ripped off. To you though you do not understand. Since this is not what feeds your family. I've received countless phone calls in support of all of this. So if I come off anyway other than pissed off I'm sorry. Not to mention I just wrote a huge check to my attorney and that makes me all the more upset.
you cannot trademark a physical item. but you can patent it.
And here in lies the problem. What would you patent on a set of headers? Nothing new, 4-2-1 headers have been around for a very long time. Like I said, I feel terribly for MBH, if I were the owner I'd be on here acting a whole lot worse than he is. It just sucks.
is it even worth the effort to lawyer up and get them involved? my lawyer is 500 an hour and would charge 1k just to write a letter lol.the only people that win in these situations is the lawyers.
why don't both parties settle it behind the scenes and give mhb a portion of each set if they are indeed patented.say 5% each set sold.
Guys, let's try and keep this thread on topic unlike the last one. Mike, feel free to PM me if you wish to talk in a civilized manner with no threats or screaming in all caps. Thanks.
I just hate whiners. You don't see volk or HRE complaining that forgestars or rotas look very similar to their products. The quality and price point are different. People have brought this up before. And then attacking me and asking if I've ever "devoted myself to something"...please...someone get this clown out of here. I will never buy or recommend MBH to anyone. AutoTalent, you guys carry on.
I just hate whiners. You don't see volk or HRE complaining that forgestars or rotas look very similar to their products. The quality and price point are different. People have brought this up before. And then attacking me and asking if I've ever "devoted myself to something"...please...someone get this clown out of here. I will never buy or recommend MBH to anyone. AutoTalent, you guys carry on.
I didn't read the previous thread, but from my understanding of this thread. It looks like Auto Talent is reselling FI headers which is a copy/similar to MBH header.
Why don't MBH go after FI? Am I missing something?
I didn't read the previous thread, but from my understanding of this thread. It looks like Auto Talent is reselling FI headers which is a copy/similar to MBH header.
Why don't MBH go after FI? Am I missing something?
No I understand that and agree. MBH should go after FI and do it professionally and behind the scenes. Going after AutoTalent ON A FORUM is bad business. Handle your stuff behind the scenes. I was simply giving another example of products that are copied and sold here. You don't see Mode Carbon bash someone for selling carbon diffusers or spoilers. And then to call me out personally and ask me if I've ever been devoted to something?!
I didn't read the previous thread, but from my understanding of this thread. It looks like Auto Talent is reselling FI headers which is a copy/similar to MBH header.
Why don't MBH go after FI? Am I missing something?
You're not missing much Meng. The issue is that MBH is SOL when he tries to sue a foreign entity for design rights, especially when we are all still trying to see if there was anything filed at all.... In this instance, it's easier to go after the easier target (reseller).
Anyone who comes on here and sells a copy of another sponsors products, is literally at the bottom of the barrel. Auto Talent is not man enough to have a phone conversation about this. It would be one thing if Auto Talent didn't know who we were, but he reached out to me to become a dealer. So its clear the the did.
The only thing that is settled is I paid a lot of money to higher a IP attorney and Auto Talent will be one of the first companies to find out the name of the law firm.
Here's the lost opportunity for you, Auto talent reached out to you to become a dealer and help you market/sell your product, you decided against it. You're just really upset that you turned them down and lost out on the opportunity for more sales. From the sounds of it, Auto talent is more than will to speak to you as long as you stop with the threats and be civil about things.
No matter the outcome, I bet the last thing your lawyer wants you to do is post on a public forum. I'd keep your emotions and comments in check if I were you.
Having said that, I hate header threads because I still have another two years on my warranty left
Any header will discolor if there is no coating on it. My ARH headers were silver when I got them. Now they are gold colored. I'll look again, but I think there might be funky colors on the tubes right by the header flange. It's just from the heat.
Here's the lost opportunity for you, Auto talent reached out to you to become a dealer and help you market/sell your product, you decided against it. You're just really upset that you turned them down and lost out on the opportunity for more sales. From the sounds of it, Auto talent is more than will to speak to you as long as you stop with the threats and be civil about things.
Interesting, you state that MBH decided against Auto Talent becoming a dealer. From what I read, MBH never stated that, I just assumed that Auto Talent probably didn't like the price of the MBH headers and after talking to them found a cheaper supplier (that happened to rip off the MBH design). But maybe you are right, maybe MBH decided against letting Auto Talent be a dealer.
Interesting, you state that MBH decided against Auto Talent becoming a dealer. From what I read, MBH never stated that, I just assumed that Auto Talent probably didn't like the price of the MBH headers and after talking to them found a cheaper supplier (that happened to rip off the MBH design). But maybe you are right, maybe MBH decided against letting Auto Talent be a dealer.
Take a look at post 13 on this thread.
" It would be one thing if Auto Talent didn't know who we were, but he reached out to me to become a dealer. "
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