Has anybody heard of this, using cork (or maybe more specifically, core cork) on a deck of a surfboard is patent protected? This video is 6 years old but this is the first time I’ve seen it or any mention of cork decked board’s being patent protected. I did a search about patents and came up with that huge one by kawika, but I’m not trying to start a good patent/bad patent arguement. I’m more curious about those of you making these boards already. Any feedback?
Sure there is a couple of BB30 s threads on here, who taught me and there is one of mine…
Here is the patent if you are interested
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D673233.html
Also its US Patent… So its only lawful in the United States…
old news…there are some heated discussions with drew from years back on here. It is a design patent for the way the cork deck looks like the way he does them on the exposed cork decks of the lost boards c3 tech boards. I believe if you put cork on the deck and have cork rails as well you should be fine because it does not look at all like the design patent. is this correct??
Does not apply to backyard and garage shapers, only commercial applications
Design Patents expire after 15 years… So it should be a no issue anyway now…
Also as Huck said, it only applies to commercial use anyway…
I used to work for a few law offices doing patent drawings and can tell you Design patents are pretty useless and very hard to defend in court. Costs more in lawyer fees than the plaintiff would ever recover…
He got his patent in 2012 so he still has a few years to go. Thanks for all the other information regarding the corked rails and design patents. I was more concerned for the backyarder that might happen to start making some cork boards and selling them to friends/locals/whatever. All info is appreciated. I think I’ll go try to find those heated threads now.
I think Drew has US distributor rights for corecork. As far as I know, he’s a standup guy and is pretty supportive of the small time builders.
I think 1/8" balsa makes a stronger and lighter board. Maybe a bit stiffer, but strong. I was climbing up the cliff to get back to my car the other day, I slipped on a particularly challenging section and landed on my board. I thought for sure I messed it up bad, but it didn’t have a ding, just 2 spots with heavy scratches and a slight pressure dent. Any normal board would have had a lot more damage.
Woven bamboo is even stronger than balsa.
Not only that about design, but also taglines…
remember the Nissan tagline…“enjoy the ride”…Well it was the sameone at HIC…Ron and crew spent tons of money getting Nissan to stop using it. End the end it was just money thrown away.
I don’t have anything against Drew Bagget. He was an early user of Corecork and right away started showing people this cool material and some of the things you could do with it. For a good while it was openly done in the public domain, and he was happily selling cut yardage to anyone who wanted to try it out. Charlie and some others were right there doing it, too, all publicly documented. Then he went and tried to make it proprietary.
I just don’t see how it’s enforceable. He’s not a distributor. He’s a consumer. He’s using a material produced by a third party for the purpose for which it was designed: composites.
Exactly, and because it was publicly show before patent and without mention of patent process, this patent worth nothing, same as carbon on rails that were made publicly far before patent. There are so much unvalid patent, enteriority search is responsability of inventor a good business for patent office.
I just looked at Drew’s instagram and didn’t see any mention of cork until I got to November of 2017. His most recent stuff looks like he’s doing a lot of carbon and some regular layups.
I wonder what’s the reason he backed off of cork?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbkPz87gW6i/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
He does a lot of c4 tech now i think is what they call it…the cork is under the glass and then they spray the boards white. I think people just dont like the look of the exposed cork most likely.
I would appreciate it if someone could explain how cork benefits the build. There are some “eye of the beholder” bisual benefits for some. But it doesn’t seem like it has the mechanical properties for board building. Correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks
all the best
It dampens the eps foam and makes them feel more like a poly board. Less chattery or ironically enough not so corky feeling!
Sounds like he is solving a problem, that doesn’t exist. Why not use a poly blank, and glass it with epoxy. Save some steps, and some time. Just a thought.
Does not absorb water.
Good compressive strength. Improves impact/load dispersal – energy absorption. (Lighter glassing schecule?)
Low thermal conductivity.
No wax needed?
Near as I can tell, the patent would only cover use of cork on the “decks surface.” I do not believe use under FG cloth would be protected by the design patent.
A design patent is very hard to defend, especially if one can demonstrate prior use for the same or similar purpose (is the patent derivative?).
It costs a fortune to defend a patent. The holder must demonstrate significant loss of income.
I have a colleague who spent $1,000,000 defending a patent from challenges and infringements. He had to take out a second mortgage on his house to pay legal fees. He eventually won.
I spent $6K a patent application before abandoning it. There was no way I had enough money to defend it. So I published it and gave it away – made it publicly known so any further attempts to patent would be “derivative.”
That wouldn’t be “Green".
Thanks Stoneburner but none of those convince me except possibly the no wax advantage. I know you are just answering my question and not necessarily advocating. I can see nitche uses like rail builds for timber boards or maybe tail pads. But beyond that it seems inferior to other components.
BTW I have used it compliments of NewSchool Blue as a deck cover on my wife’s SUP. No one but me thought it was clever. Ha.
All the best
