Dainese vs Alpinestars Lawsuit

So, per the ruling:

1) prohibiting Alpinestars to commercialize the Tech-Air™ Street Airbag Vests and Tech-Air™ Racing Airbag Vests in Germany;

2) ordering Alpinestars to recall any such vests which Alpinestars has supplied since 1 July 2015 and which are still in the possession of commercial customers in Germany;

3) Compensating Dainese for all damages suffered due to the sale of the infringing vests in Germany since 1 July 2015.

https://dainese.echoscomm.com/the-m...=attachment&asset_id=139277#attachment-139277

 

Wow! How will this impact Alpinestars in the USA and worldwide?

 

Isn't this old news?

https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/verdict-reached-alpinestars-dainese-airbag-patent-case/

 

Alpinestars filed an appeal. The OP is linking the verdict of the appeal.

 

Well the industry needs all the support it can get and having two big names like this go at it isn't conducive to its health.
But Dainese FTW.

 

I guess it's a good thing they didn't take one of those fly by night Pakistani leather suit company's to court, lol.

 

I'm sure this will have some affect. How much, I have no idea.

 

The fact that Alpinestars has to recall as many kits that they've already sold to the public is quite the kick in the nuts I'd imagine.

 

Nice .... so Dainese “wins” by taking valuable impact protection gear AWAY from consumers! B.S.

Disappointing to know Dainese doesn’t have the consumers’ safety as its priority.

 

I'm rooting for the Italian company in this one.

 

So you are ok with intellectual property theft then. Gotcha

 

Did Alpinestars steal their software/code? If not I see no problem with it.

 

Intellectual property includes things other the software and code

 

No sh@t! ... an air bag is an air bag. The Alpinestars product is arguably a better product due to its modular design. Not having to ship an entire suit to get it repacked is a big deal to me.

 

Was a license fee to use the Dainese patent/copyright/what have you not available to A*'s?

 

Im just saving to invest in a new suit that supports integrated Tech Air and a Tech Air. Hopefully the recall stays within Germany.

 

Why would the code be different than the actual physical attributes of the suit when it comes to patent/IP protection? would you be pissed if the chinese stole the IP and made copies of the d-air suits?

I am not as familiar with the alpinestars systems, but dainese has over 35 patents on the dair systems. per their website there are 14 related the construction of the airbag- an example is the airbag is made with a bunch of small filaments between the two layers so that the volume/thickness of the airbag can be strictly controlled vs something like a balloon or car air bag that's just a large chamber. They have 11 patents based on the algorithms that tell the system when and when not to deploy as well as how the system is put together (the D-air system has an integrated GPS, accelerometers and gyroscopes). Then there's 10 more having to do with how the air bag is integrated into the suits/jackets.

In the past Dainese was the first company to actually license the air bags to other companies and were the first company that consumers could purchase an air bag suit. I don't know the time frame for the two companies but I would have guessed that dainese had their suits on the market for consumers for 3-4 years prior to alpinestars? 2011 was the first year they sold the suits to the public AFAIK.

If you looked at some of the MotoGP racers the past few years, some were sponsored by other leather companies but had D-air technology in their suits. They are just protecting the technology that they spent 18 years developing (their first systems were in 2000). IMHO there are only 2 companies in the industry that have the technology/R&D facilities to develop air bag systems, Dainese and Alpinestars. They both have competing systems, and it's great for consumers to have a choice, but you have to give the companies their right to make back money on products that they developed and spent years testing and refining, on both sides.

Anyone see Lindsey Vonn's crash in the Super G? dainese airbag. quite a few skiers in the last winter olympics were wearing dair under their suits.

As far as IP law, germany typically has the most stringent laws so a win there usually is good for most of the EU. I know the US laws are very different, so not sure how the euro court rulings will affect the US but at some point I would guess there will be some repercussions in the US market as well.

 

If you have a patent and don’t defend its infringement , you’re an idiot.

A* (or their patent lawyers) should have done their homework. Plain and simple.

 

(Disclaimer: I am not looking to waste a bunch of time entering some pissing contest and I am not a Patent Attorney)
That said I own, have used and sold both the Dainese D-Air and Alpinestars airbag systems.

Having used both of them as a rider I do not see any similarities between them with the exception they are both designed to inflate prior to impact in the event of a crash. The Dainese system is sewn into the race suit under the inner liner of the suit that can deploy one time and requires a GPS signal to function. Conversely the Alpinestars system is a stand alone vest that is zipped into the race suit o jacket that has the capability of deploying twice (depends on the size of the vest) and does not require a GPS signal to function.

Having sold both as a retailer the B2B interaction with Alpinestars is very different from working with Dainese. More importantly when service after the sale has been required (airbag service post deployment) the customer experience was very different when comparing Alpinestars to Dainese.

Since 2015 we have sold a large number of both systems, we have used both ourselves and have received enough customer feedback to form a valid opinion. My personal opinion is the only thing these 2 systems share in common is both being airbags used in protective action sports apparel. I have searched a bit for more information on the Dainese Patent's trying to learn more and have not been able to find a good resource for information. When using or comparing both products I do not see any similarities worth litigation. The algorithm that drives the package is not easily accessible so there is the possibility it could be the primary reason for litigation. If Alpinestars has copied an algorithm developed by Dainese that would be a tangible reason for this action. If this is not the case (I have not seen anything claiming it to be) then I personally do not feel legal action is warranted.

End of the day none of this will help to push the sport forward or improve the level of safety the riding gear offers. - Van

 

Thanks for the opinion. Lets further that, if you didnt own either one and were in the market as a rider which would you prefer? Taking into account the whole experience with reloading, function, fit, etc..