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Air Wars: Dainese vs Alpinestars

7K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Desert Rat 
#1 ·

Motorcycles are inherently dangerous and riders are only allowed so much protection from the gear that we choose to place on our bodies. Dainese has always been an innovator when it comes to motorcycle safety. They were the first to incorporate back protectors into the leather pajamas that early motorcycle racers wore in the late 70's, and more recently they were the first to dream up the incorporation of airbags into jackets and race suits in 1995 and then implement them for testing in 2000.

As is the way when you have a good idea, others latch on like a bunch of lampreys and suck the life right out of it. There is a bit of a legal battle over the patents of the use of airbags in motorcycle gear. Alpinestars and Dainese are currently engaged in a he-said-she-said over the patents. Dainese holds several patents and had issued a cease and desist to certain German retailers of Alpinestars Tech-Air systems. AStars tried to get ahead of the news publicly by issuing a statement to the press essentially stating that the cease and disist had been issued, but not a legal action. Thus leaving readers to infer that they had done nothing legally wrong.

Dainese, this morning, offered a formal response to this statement setting the record straight. There were two injunctions levied against AStars by the German court stating that the Tech-Air systems infringe upon two of the Dainese European patents. There is an additional lawsuit seeking damages and the halt of commercialization of the Tech-Air system in Germany.

Read the rest of the story here: Air Wars: Dainese D-Air vs Alpinestars Tech-Air
 
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#3 ·
I think Dianese has total grounds for a law suit. They have invented and re invented the knee sliders, back protectors, and in suit air bags. Having some company come and put their logo on a Dianese developed product is totally grounds for a law suit. Dainese is who poured all the money into its development to get it to where it is today. No company should be able to come in and rip it off until their patent is expired.
 
#4 · (Edited)
i'm going to disagree with the lawsuit on almost every level. yes, it is a bummer to find that someone else has taken your idea and is making some amount (or trying to) of money off of your design. yes, it is shady and sneaky to reverse engineer components. Here's where i disagree with the lawsuit; these are safety devices to save the lives of those within our community of riders. we may be in different states, regions countries, of EVEN different continents, but we are one by riding on 2(wheels). Motorcycling is somewhat about the community and comeradery that comes with being a minority on the roads that are run by vehicles twice and up to if not larger than 10 times our size and weight. Let the basis for safety be a reason to stop the silly lawsuit, every (gear) designer should be able to create the safest possible gear that they can and lawsuits monopolizing the air-bag-suit do ABSOLUTELY nothing for the progression of technology. i know, people can design things ALSO, but they also have to start from square-1. allowing A-stars to use the Dianese springboard would enhance progression because A-stars doesn't have to start from scratch; they could instead use their RnD to IMPROVE a design instead of just design.


as far as the response i will get, Dianese will not lose their customer base to lower quality manufacturers, they will continue to do as they do to create the best suits and gear that they can. as far as my experience, when i spend money on gear, i tend to find that better construction and more intricate details are in the design of the gear and that typically comes with the price. just because i can get it cheaply, doesn't mean i want to buy it cheaply. i will eventually make it to the top tier of gear; just because i have to buy lower price stuff than Dianese, doesn't mean i won't eventually make it to their shop.

btw, i'm an engineer. one of our projects had a useless ring added to one side of the product to open a backdoor to a patented (but not produced) technology once we figured out how to make it work... patents can be loopholed.
also, i read where apple tried to patent a "wedge-shaped personal computer with integrated peripherals and an attached folding monitor" seriously...patents can be made to encompass ALL POSSIBLE designs and create an industry monopoly and this is not fair either.
 
#7 ·
Holders of Dainese investments have every right to expect them to fight to protect their patents. As Thomas Murphy, former CEO of General Motors said, "General Motors is not in the business of making cars. It is in the business of making money."
 
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