for what it's worth, if anyone cares.

[Steve Dion]

This article was posted on Lat. 38 today.Sail Suit Settled September 19 - The Courts According to Veronica Brown of North Sails, "Sobstad Corporation and North Sails Group, LLC, have settled the patent infringement litigation regarding Sobstad's structural sail patents, the '639, '953 and '205 patents in suit. North Sails Group, LLC, will now own the '639, '953 and '205 patents and all of their counterparts, often referred to as the "Airframe Patents." Sobstad Corporation will retain full ownership of Sobstad's '080 patent, often referred to as the "Genesis Patent" and all of its counterparts. The '080 patent was not a patent in suit." This was one of the sailing industry's largest lawsuits. Exactly who 'won' and who 'lost', or whether it was a 'win-win', is unclear at this time.

 

[R.W.Landau]

In response

I love the American way of life, that there is competition to limit profit and make ownership a reality, to make creativity and productivity worth the effort.Don't get me wrong, I think a breakupof Microsoft would disrupt and slow the groth of the internet and the communications industry.We are talking sails! I really don't care about who designed it I care who make the better sail for the money I spend.I also know the reality of trying to make a buck.My hope is that since this had to go to court, That the true owner of ideas be blessed with the profits they deserve.If North has truely made a breakthru, may they reap the rewards. If SobstaD also had good ideas, may they come up with something that blows these designs away.As you can tell, I do not think that court is the place to settle things.I am not saying who is at fault here, I am saying that I would prefer choosing a company with business/ moral ethics.I am glad you brought this to my attention so that when I am in the market for a sail, I look closely and chose a business I could be happy to support. r.w.landau

 

[Will]

Sobstad v. North

The trial court had found that North infringed Sobstad's "Airframe" patents. The parties have apparently settled by Sobstad selling the patents to North. It doesn't sound like a case of bad ethics by one party, since the judge found that there were differences in construction, but not enough to avoid the patent claims. Many times these patent infringement cases are not about knock-offs, but simply honest disagreements about the patent coverage. May both companies continue to advance the art of sail design and construction, so that all sailors benefit.