Dainese vs Alpinestars Lawsuit

Taking into account the whole experience Alpinestars is the one I would choose.

 

Damn Jeff that was very put! Go have beer and get ready for SX later.

 

Remember, you can patent anything as long as the patent office worker is dumb enough to approve it. Rounded corner patent fight anyone?

Anyone willing to scan through it, here's the link and publication number for the patent in question.
https://data.epo.org/publication-server/?lg=en
EP2412257
Revision B1 in the search results.

Scanning through it. A lot of it was "this airtight bag covers this region of the body" 50 times, and "these fabrics are put together using a seam and glue".

"[0172] It should be noted also that the activation means, despite being an aspect of particular importance for effective operation of the device, will not be further described in greater detail since they are essentially methods already known to a person skilled in the art of protecting a person from sudden impacts."

I guess at a higher level, it was a unique idea to have air protection in a motorcycle garment. But the patent is also very specific that the air bag system is built into the garment as well as the control system. So who knows which of the sentences in the 41 pages actually caused an issue. The court order is only applied to Germany.

 

It's not a coincidence that the company with higher quality standards is the winner here.

 

Typically there are two avenues to pursue if you are going to fight patent law. One is that your product does not actually infringe on the patent itself. That usually is somewhat straightforward (well, in an ideal world). the other way is to challenge the fact that the patent should not have been granted in the first place. AFAIK Alpinestars tried both avenues and were found wanting in both cases (usually you go after the patent granting first, because in many cases if you loose that one then you have lost the second one).

Again I'm not a patent lawyer but I"ve dealt with it a lot in past jobs (and new position) but from my general info, usually Germany is the hardest to win patent cases in Europe and tends to set precedence for the EU. But I could be very wrong.

 

how about a company like hit-air with their vest? could they be sent to court potentially?

 

Seems like parallel thinking rather than patent theft. An air bag protecting a rider isnt exactly a revolutionary idea, and I think the alpinestars system is different enough to not infringe.

 

Apparently the German courts think you are wrong, barrister.

 

Yep. And I think they’re wrong. Great recap. High five!

 

For the longest time, my last girlfriend hated high-fives. It turned out that previously, she was in an abusive relationship.

 

Since they have been on the market for many years before either were developed I doubt it.

 

What’s going to happen when contracted Alpinestars GP riders wander into Germany for the race? I mean, how will Zoll treat the incoming goods?

Does the Alpinestars support truck get impounded?
Will Crutchlow punch a sauerkraut?
Will DORNA provide for a German GP-only reprieve of their airbag requirement?
Can anything stop ruthless German efficiency?
Who shot J.R.?

 

If this this the German slang for Cal visiting the gravel as his bike shatters to pieces, then yes, he will land 3 punches that round.

 

A-Stars will modify the vest to get around the IP problem, whether its a SW change or HW design change. Hopefully they can modify the existing and then send them back out. The Vest is not dead, just needs to change enough to get around whatever they are impeding.

 

Just received this in my in box:

On February 7, 2019 the Higher Regional Court of Munich issued judgment upholding the claim that Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® vest infringes upon patent EP 2 412 257 B1 held by Dainese S.p.A.

Alpinestars wants to clarify that this action never involved the core of Alpinestars Tech-Air® technology; at no point, either past or present, has any action or patent infringement involved the electronic management, algorithm, or deployment mechanism, or any other part employed within Alpinestars entirely unique and advanced Tech-Air® technology.

Furthermore this judgment is limited to the territory of Germany only. It has no bearing on any other territories within Europe or the wider world market where Tech-Air® is available throughout Alpinestars’ Dealer network.

Originally Dainese alleged infringements based on three patents in Germany, none of them refer to Tech-Air® technology: one complaint was withdrawn by Dainese on 22nd December 2016, relating to patent EP 2 373 188, after this patent was revoked by the European Patent Office. The remaining two patents have been contested in Germany. The second, EP 2 373 190, concerning only some specific features of the air bladder used in the Tech-Air® vest, was wholly annulled by the German Federal Patent Court on 15 May 2018. Dainese appealed this decision.

The third, EP 2 412 257 B1, concerning the general installation of an inflatable air bladder construction within a ‘pocket’ of a garment, featuring elastic panels, is the point on which the patent infringement claim was upheld last week. As soon as the Court serves the written judgment, Alpinestars will study the details prior to taking any decision on its next steps.

Alpinestars needs to point out that it has an appeal pending on the validity of this patent (EP 2 412 257 B1) within the German Federal Court of Justice.

As consistently stated throughout this legal process, Alpinestars fully respects and honors third parties’ intellectual property rights and expects the same with respect to its own IP rights. Alpinestars’ highly innovative Tech-Air® products are based upon years of its in house research and development conducted by its own team of leading research and development staff.

Since the very beginning of the Tech-Air® project, which commenced in 2001, the freedom to ride with the most advanced innovations of performance protection has been the objective relentlessly pursued by Alpinestars and the result is uniquely advanced and capable technology. Tech-Air® is the world’s first airbag providing full upper torso protection in a transferable vest which incorporates a completely independent electronic management system, with no reliance on any external devices (sensors or GPS), to give accident detection and full airbag inflation before the first impact, dual charge for the track and off-road capability as demonstrated in the 2019 Dakar Rally.

Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® products represent an enormously innovative contribution to increased rider safety in motorcycling.

 

According to Speedweek, additional litigation is pending in England, Italy and France regarding this patent infringement.

http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/138973/Urteil-Keine-Alpinestars-Tech-Air-in-Deutschland.html

 

I’ll be meeting with the Alpinestars guys this weekend so I’ll see if they can shed anymore light on all this.

 

I'm glad I didn't buy a Dainese suit. If that's what they really got the A-Star system pulled for, it's reading like petty bullshit. Way to reduce rider safety when competition does it better.

 

Well, whatever happens at least we can rest assured the consumer will be absorbing the legal costs via price hikes in the product to offset.