ebay fake whirlwind hoses, advice please
Discussion
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271537894484?_trksid=p20...
A seller on ebay is selling what appears to be a direct copy of my Whirlwind induction hoses. They're more expensive than my hoses and come with no clips or ecu chip by the looks of the wording.
What can I do about this? Obviously I'm not too happy .. but I obviously have no patent / copyright on the hoses as such .. except that these appear to be identical to mine.
If anyone has had any of these fitted I would love to take a look at a hose to see it side by side with the hoses I've been selling for the last 6 years or so. In fact if anyone has bought any I will remap your car for half price just to get my hands on a hose!!
Also what can I do except ask the seller and maker to stop selling them ? Can I even do that?
At the very least it's effing cheeky!
Anyone got any advice?
A seller on ebay is selling what appears to be a direct copy of my Whirlwind induction hoses. They're more expensive than my hoses and come with no clips or ecu chip by the looks of the wording.
What can I do about this? Obviously I'm not too happy .. but I obviously have no patent / copyright on the hoses as such .. except that these appear to be identical to mine.
If anyone has had any of these fitted I would love to take a look at a hose to see it side by side with the hoses I've been selling for the last 6 years or so. In fact if anyone has bought any I will remap your car for half price just to get my hands on a hose!!
Also what can I do except ask the seller and maker to stop selling them ? Can I even do that?
At the very least it's effing cheeky!
Anyone got any advice?
- nuke from orbit is sadly not an option ..
Edited by spitfire4v8 on Friday 1st August 09:38
Check out
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/design/d-about/d-desig...
Whilst you have not registered (assuming this from your post) you do have rights, especially since your design and product has been in the market for 6 years. You will need to get a hose from the other seller to check that they are the same in design to then take it further if you wished.
Hope this helps.
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/design/d-about/d-desig...
Whilst you have not registered (assuming this from your post) you do have rights, especially since your design and product has been in the market for 6 years. You will need to get a hose from the other seller to check that they are the same in design to then take it further if you wished.
Hope this helps.
BarnFind said:
spitfire4v8 said:
done!
Sell yourself,you have a tad more pedigree than them ! get some good wording up there abouy you and the product Oh and i quess no waiting time with you...Edited by BarnFind on Friday 1st August 06:52
In fact the water hose kit is not a copy of the ACT set, as the top rad hose is a simple 90deg hose, rather than the correct more complex shape sold by ACT.
I agree with others Joolz, your best defense is to promote your kit as the real deal, and by offering the option of the generic map or custom map, I doubt you'll lose much business. After all this is a very small community, there can't be more than 1,000 running AJPs left can there?
I agree with others Joolz, your best defense is to promote your kit as the real deal, and by offering the option of the generic map or custom map, I doubt you'll lose much business. After all this is a very small community, there can't be more than 1,000 running AJPs left can there?
Thanks all, ad updated ..
I need to get my hands on a hose so that I can take an internal silicone moulding .. It seems from the link kindly provided above by greenracing that 3D shapes have an implied design protection but that something that needs to fit in a particular way (ie has to be a certain shape and cannot be changed) doesn't.
The pipes obviously do have to fit the airbox at one end and inlet at the other, but the route between can be any shape you choose, so on that basis I would say the 3D shaping of the short pipes between the end fixings is a protected design.
If anyone has any of these ebay pipes I would love to borrow one and take an internal moulding .. pipes are wound onto a former during production and therefore taking an internal mould will tell me the shape of the former being used. If it turns out to be the same as mine then that's a copied design.
many thanks.
I need to get my hands on a hose so that I can take an internal silicone moulding .. It seems from the link kindly provided above by greenracing that 3D shapes have an implied design protection but that something that needs to fit in a particular way (ie has to be a certain shape and cannot be changed) doesn't.
The pipes obviously do have to fit the airbox at one end and inlet at the other, but the route between can be any shape you choose, so on that basis I would say the 3D shaping of the short pipes between the end fixings is a protected design.
If anyone has any of these ebay pipes I would love to borrow one and take an internal moulding .. pipes are wound onto a former during production and therefore taking an internal mould will tell me the shape of the former being used. If it turns out to be the same as mine then that's a copied design.
many thanks.
ukkid35 said:
In fact the water hose kit is not a copy of the ACT set, as the top rad hose is a simple 90deg hose, rather than the correct more complex shape sold by ACT.
I agree with others Joolz, your best defense is to promote your kit as the real deal, and by offering the option of the generic map or custom map, I doubt you'll lose much business. After all this is a very small community, there can't be more than 1,000 running AJPs left can there?
Absolutely I agree with others Joolz, your best defense is to promote your kit as the real deal, and by offering the option of the generic map or custom map, I doubt you'll lose much business. After all this is a very small community, there can't be more than 1,000 running AJPs left can there?
You are correct in that you probably have UK Unregistered Design Right in the "shape and configuration" of your hoses. Again you are correct that some aspects will be excluded since they have to interface with other parts of the engine.
The right last 10 years from first marketing (assuming first marketing within 5 years of creation). So it seems you are within this period. Do you have precursor engineering drawings with dates? This would be the best / easiest "proof". The right will subsist even if you haven't but is rather more difficult to detail.
It is infringed by someone who copies it to produce something exactly or substantially to the design. You probably need to inspect it to determine this.
One thing you could consider is the eBay VeRO notification scheme for IP rights. http://pages.ebay.co.uk/vero/index.html
I have no experience of this scheme myself and they don't seem to have an easy tick box for UK Unregistered Design Right but it might be worth a try.
Finally be a little careful what you say. Unjustified threats of UDR infringement against third parties are potentially actionable.
The right last 10 years from first marketing (assuming first marketing within 5 years of creation). So it seems you are within this period. Do you have precursor engineering drawings with dates? This would be the best / easiest "proof". The right will subsist even if you haven't but is rather more difficult to detail.
It is infringed by someone who copies it to produce something exactly or substantially to the design. You probably need to inspect it to determine this.
One thing you could consider is the eBay VeRO notification scheme for IP rights. http://pages.ebay.co.uk/vero/index.html
I have no experience of this scheme myself and they don't seem to have an easy tick box for UK Unregistered Design Right but it might be worth a try.
Finally be a little careful what you say. Unjustified threats of UDR infringement against third parties are potentially actionable.
greenracing said:
Whilst you have not registered …
Not intending to be rude but registration would not have helped / would not have been possible since the part is not visible in "normal use". Other parts can be registered however - for example BWM have a policy of vigorously pursuing reproductions of their various alloy wheels on the basis of design registrations.As I understand it, you can't apply design rights to the "must fit" parts of the pipes, in this case the two ends, however, the eBay seller in this instance didn't have to follow what looks to be the same design to connect the two ends so therefore as the part was specifically designed to improve performance and specifically designed in this shape that is significantly different to the "everyday" item, it is covered. Whether the part is seen or not seen externally makes no difference as far as I am aware......
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