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Looks Like Netbait Filed Suit To Enforce Its Patent

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I think Ghostbaits Jim nailed it.

It's not about stopping others from copying it, it's about being paid a licensing fee, or royalty, or whatever they call it.

Ask Gary Yamamoto. He said he's paid a fortune over the years to Gene Larew because Larew had a patent for adding salt to his baits, and sued him and won.

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While I can't talk about specifics, I can tell you that as a small company you don't want to get involved with a patent dispute. We didn't own the mold for our Flap Jack, we rented it from another company. The owner of that mold actually told me he had a patent on the bait that was issued before Netbait got theirs. I took him for his word and boy was that a mistake. Being new to patent issues, I didn't understand at the time what was all involved.......I do now. Jim said it very well. Don't just do a Google search, you need to hire a patent attorney if you want to play in this game. Yes, that is expensive but not even close to what it could/will cost you.

In the long run, it has made us a better company. We now have our own injection machine (just arrived 2 weeks ago!) and we have 4 new baits coming out in the next couple of weeks.

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I spent 6k+ w/ lawyers over a trademark dispute in 1991. My trademark and patent attorney said,"We can win this if we go to court in Washington D.C."

I said to him,"What will it cost?"

He said 20 K :o I gave up and changed the name.

There is no way a small company can afford legal disputing fees @ today's rates. It's downright foolish to use a trademarked name( eg:Sweet Beaver )or continue producing a bait for sale that has a registered design patent

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design a lure, and come up with a unique name..

Sounds great- then spend the $ to trademark the name on the product until are larger company w/more $ then you objects to the trademark application name that the U.S. trademark and patent office says is clean and not trademarked.That's when the legal bills really start piling up. I speak from an expensive experience

A design patent-

Excellent-BUT now you have to have the $ to defend the trademark and patent and that can cost mega $. They are currently trying to change the patent laws so you are protected from a foreign company. If they don't,what small company has the $ to sue a Japanese Company for a design patent infringement

Edited by smallmouthaholic
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