General

[Painthappy]

Originally Posted by A.C. Basbas

Honestly, I don't know how anyone can "defend" SP after this.

It's because as long as they keep producing cheap high end guns, that people can use to fling paint... They will always have followers.

That being said... There is going to be an implosion in the paintball world and soon.

It was fine when BE made cheap guns. But now Smart Parts has been selling the ION and the market is flooded with those. They now have a tough time selling their high end, high profit margin guns.

WGP is in the same boat. Action Village is selling mech cockers for $60, and e-cockers... for $130.00... And those are not plastic.

Companies like Dangerous Power are now selling their Fusions for $300 give or take, and that's an all metal kick-butt gun.

And the market continues to be flooded... and not with new technology either... just more and cheaper guns that we would all consider "high end" due to their rate of fire and ability to hold up.

Look at the Angel market? They continue to put out $1000.00 and up new guns, but the old ones, LCD ones too, are going in the $200 range! And aside from a few minor improvements.. the 4 year old electros fire as fast as I and just about anyone else needs them too!


After a few more years, these companies will have figuratively shot themselves in the foot and will be bought up, or go out of business.


(Cheap paintball guns was a giant conspiracy by Duracell... LOL )

[Drum]

Yeah, banning phrases and names is an excellent response...

The way I read this is different than the guns you all mentioned above. Maybe I am missing it, but it seems to me that the proposal here is for a gun that holds air in the grip itself, not just passing through the grip from an external source.

Still, there is probably prior art. I think the Brits were doing stuff like this back before they were allowed to use CO2/HPA cylinders on their guns.
There were at least a few guns that carried permanent onboard reservoirs that needed to be pumped up before play, but I do not recall any of them that stored the air exclusively in the grip.

Sure, there are many guns that have contained the airsource in the grip in the form of 12g's, but again, I read this as suggesting that the grip frame itself would be the reservoir.

If there is prior art in that area in paintball, I am not familiar with it.

Edit: Reading it again, it does look like they are talking more about a gas-through grip instead of a gas-containing grip. My bad.

Also, all the discussion I have ever had with people who have filed patents in paintball have reported the same thing as Carter above. It seems like a good idea but it is a waste of time. For all the SP haters out there, all they have done is waste their money on filing a patent that they will only spend more money to enforce before finally realizing the same thing. It was all a waste of time and money.

If/when SP is foolish enough to try and defeat some other design similar to their patent here, they will have the same lack of success as they had before. Maybe these guys are untrainable.




D.

[Mr. Furious]

SP searches for things that might be able to be patented, looks for things their competitors do especially on items that are selling well. They patent someone else's unpatented design and then sue the living crap out of the inventor for his own invention.

I'm 99% certain this is all about the Invert Mini. SP saw a popular marker that had a unique design characteristic(for today's markers) and got to work figuring out how to bend Invert over a table to make them pay SP for something SP has no rights to but is low class enough to try to grab.

[Drum]

Can anyone speak reliably to whether or not SP has ever made any money or restricted the production of a paintball company through their patent efforts.

I know AKA got mixed up with them, but I have since been told that AKA gave up the ghost for a variety of reasons and really only saw the SP efforts as a "convenient" way to wrap up.

So far as I am concerned, my comment about AKA above is just a rumor until someone with knowledge fills me in. I refuse to follow this nonsense for exactly the same reason that I mentioned above. It is all a waste of time and money.

D

[WSCopic]

I agree. They seem to go after companies that make products similar to theirs, but superior. (AKA,...anyone else who has ever made paintball guns, etc.) Instead of improving their own, they try to make the competetor stop.

(Shakes head)

Ahhhhh,....capitalism. :P

[BigEvil]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

I get ill every time I read one of Smart Parts patent documents.

I'm sure Hell has a little place set aside just for the Gardner boys.

A little place? Hopefully, a "SPECIAL" place.

[incynr8]

Originally Posted by Drum

Can anyone speak reliably to whether or not SP has ever made any money or restricted the production of a paintball company through their patent efforts.

I know AKA got mixed up with them, but I have since been told that AKA gave up the ghost for a variety of reasons and really only saw the SP efforts as a "convenient" way to wrap up.

So far as I am concerned, my comment about AKA above is just a rumor until someone with knowledge fills me in. I refuse to follow this nonsense for exactly the same reason that I mentioned above. It is all a waste of time and money.

D

I believe ICD pays them lic. fees.

[Drum]

Originally Posted by incynr8

I believe ICD pays them lic. fees.

Based on what? Do you have a link or anything like that?

Also, I would be curious to know why they bother to do so.

D.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by Drum

Can anyone speak reliably to whether or not SP has ever made any money or restricted the production of a paintball company through their patent efforts.

I know AKA got mixed up with them, but I have since been told that AKA gave up the ghost for a variety of reasons and really only saw the SP efforts as a "convenient" way to wrap up.

So far as I am concerned, my comment about AKA above is just a rumor until someone with knowledge fills me in. I refuse to follow this nonsense for exactly the same reason that I mentioned above. It is all a waste of time and money.

D

Dangerous Power for sure pays them license fees for both the Fusion(for the board) and I believe the operating mechanism inside the Threshold (heard it from a DP rep myself) as does anyone who makes a paintball marker that is activated by a switch or controlled by a circuit board.

SP's patents are vague and far reaching. If you buy something for paintball, you are probably paying Smart Parts. They are predatory and unethical and as much as they say they want paintball to grow, they really mean they only want paintball to grow if they get a check for each step of the way.

Smart Parts has a lot of loyal fans because they do treat players well and they do put some of their ill gotten gains back into the sport in the form of sponsorships but they will never make up for the damage they have done by they legal wrangling with paintball patents that have put companies out of business and kept good, innovative products from the market. Smart Parts thrives because they take a piece of all the other big companies' pies and squash the little guys before they ever get off the ground.

If Smart Parts patented meat, I'd become a vegetarian. I hate them that much.

[incynr8]

National Paintball Supply and Smart Parts Sign Patent License Agreement
August 22, 2003

Smart Parts, Inc. and National Paintball Supply, Inc. today announced the
signing of a Patent License Agreement giving National Paintball Supply
rights to make, sell, offer for sale, and distribute products covered by
Smart Parts¹ electronic paintball gun patents.

Smart Parts owns several issued patents and pending patent applications
related to the use of electronics in the control and operation of paintball
guns. These include, for instance, U.S. Patent Nos. 5,881,707; 5,967,133;
6,035,843; and 6,474,326 B1
Smart Parts > NPS - PBAZ - PaintballArizona.com