Say I need to built a flowrider…
I want to built my own deveopement…if I don`t call it flowrider can there be any problem?
Its just a structure with pumps after all. Not very much developement.
There is much talk about licensing on their homepage…I don`t need to license anything that I can do on my own.
Generally speaking, if you build a copy of something for your own use, do not sell it, and do not market it using the names or images of the thing you are copying, you need not worry about patents or trademarks.
When you start making money from it, you might start worrying.
I am not gona sell the thing but the rides on it.
Does that count?
No, I am not going to use the name or anything.
Just a surface with water flowing over it…
Generally speaking, if you build a copy of something for your own use, do not sell it, and do not market it using the names or images of the thing you are copying, you need not worry about patents or trademarks.
When you start making money from it, you might start worrying.
I would need to sell rides on it…
but it is not a flowrider but a surface with water on it 
does that count?
Everybody can built a halfpipe and sell it…why not a wave?
Quote:Generally speaking, if you build a copy of something for your own use, do not sell it, and do not market it using the names or images of the thing you are copying, you need not worry about patents or trademarks.
When you start making money from it, you might start worrying.
I would need to sell rides on it…
but it is not a flowrider but a surface with water on it
does that count?
Everybody can built a halfpipe and sell it…why not a wave?
They list about a dozen patents in their online brochure, I would read up on what they have protection on.
Of course, it might just be easier to work with them than to use their IP.
I predict they don’t have a lock on the market for artificial waves, but on some specific implementation of them, but to find out you’ll need to read up.
Say I need to built a flowrider…
I want to built my own deveopement…if I don`t call it flowrider can there be any problem?
Its just a structure with pumps after all. Not very much developement.
There is much talk about licensing on their homepage…I don`t need to license anything that I can do on my own.
If you have a serious interest in getting a patent, or avoiding infringing one, I strongly recommend the book “Patent It Yourself”, by David Pressman. It isn’t cheap, but I can’t imagine it not paying for itself. The Nolo Press site also has quite a bit of free information on the subject:
-Samiam
If you’re going to make money from it - selling it, or selling time at it - you have to be really careful about violating the Flowrider patent. They will come after you. If you’ve got the money and facilities to build one, you should be able to afford a license for Flowrider’s tech. You’ll spend more making something work on your own anyway.
Another thing to consider is - Carl Ekstrom, one of the Flowrider’s inventors, bailed out a few years ago because of liability issues. They lost a case, and they had more on the way. Carl was thinking people would start comming after his personal assets, so he disassociated himself.
If you use Flowrider’s tech, and someone sues you because they get injured, you may be able to pass the problem on to Flowrider instead of assuming all liability by yourself.
If you’re just building a standing wave for personal use… no problem. If it’s for commercial purposes, they will find out, and they will sue you. I’d bet money on it.
I should do fine.
Lawyers told me it is a matter of avoiding their patents.
Pumps are bought from ITT Flygt.
There is not much about the patent that can`t be done in a better way.
It is about three times cheaper to develope my own design and built it than to buy from waveloch.
I won`t pay for something that I can do much better on my own.
I also got limitations that they can not solve in their design.
I am not American, where I live you don`t get sued if something happens…if so you will be fined some hundred Euros max.
People have a certain degree of self-responsibility. If you break your arm it is your own fault.
Say someone falls out of a car in America…can he sue the inventor? I never understood these things. The woman that burnt herself with the coffee from McDonalds…a European court would have sent her home unless Ronald McDonald himself would have poured the coffee over her.
In that way we are much more free.