Pretty much all the pre-Pin2k patents have expired at this point. Copyright is of course a different story (nothing post-Mickey is ever likely to expire again) but unless he literally photocopied the board layouts that wouldn't be an issue.

Too bad he's insisting on going full crank mode on the other stuff though, I think the Thunderbirds would be a pretty cool theme.

By my understanding that flipper opto patent expired two weeks ago.

(I swear none of the previous patent comments were here when I typed my original response, maybe the DB is acting up.)

EDIT of EDIT: NM, wrong patent if anybody read the edit.

Well as we're just getting done making the correct Flipper Opto Assy's we will be ok ... we've got OEM boards, etc and getting them finished up now.

I am okay with this pin not being shipped to North America, we are a huge consumer market and we need to let these other countries fill their landfills with Chinese made crap too.
I believe when you spread the junk around it is good for everybody.

Both the US and Australia are signatories to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PTC), and there are avenues to pursue patent violations internationally. I just don't know enough to say if this protection is recieved automatic with receiving a US patent, or if it has to be filed for on its own.

-Hans

The boards are different layouts, they are re-designed to replace obsolete parts with one that are currently available.

Hi all

Gone through the patent process in Australia for a hand tool and I only applied for it in Australia , it was going to cost me big bucks to have it patented in the USA or Europe, so I a made the decision not to do so.

My understanding is that a patented invention can not be made or sold in the country that the patent is filed without permision. . For example I have an Australian patent only, no one in Australia can make or sell it here without my OK, however someone in the USA could make it and sell it anywhere except Australia and I would have no recourse.

However no one in the World can patent my idea anywhere.

I of course can sell my products anywhere.

Obviously it works visa versa.

So if the williams patents were filed in the USA only, technically an Australian company can manufacture the product with no recourse, BUT can not sell it to the USA.

Hope this helps

won't the majority of the parts for this game be made in china? I'm sure the chinese will send out their crack patent enforcement team

If the patents are only patented for USA - then Europe is open market.

Maybe the decision not to sell to USA was in fact influenced by this...

Well, and the problem with patent law, is it is up to the owner of the patent to enforce it. I don't think that ever works out for anyone but the largest companies that have legal teams and can go to court every day.

I believe that US patents are only enforceable in the US. There is a European patent office for Europe. Maybe StevenP could chime in on this subject. I work on the other side of the patent business

I know http://www.google.com/patents/US5358243 has expired (the modern ball trough). a whole bunch have expired (I know this one off top of my head as I ran into it some time back by accident).

this one for fastbreak has not expired http://www.google.com/patents/US5806851 but probably will in a couple of years.

pinball patents are funky things.

Yet the planned production numbers were reduced by half almost immediately after the online tirade against the US/Canada....

Child. . . you sound like Wayne Gillard of the famous MM remake that never happened.

Now that I think about it, Wayne decided not to sell his MM remakes to Canada and the US as well...

And Mike mysteriously disappears from the face of this thread.

Leaving an empty place in absolutely nobody's heart.

It was a good move on his part, it would have just escalated. Both JJP and Stern take a ton of abuse/criticism, but they just ignore it for the most part. Internet rule #7.

Welcome back my friends to the thread that never ends................

so glad you could attend come inside, come inside..

Well... it's a bit like when he left the WOZ hardware thread mid-discussion. But he's still around, warning others with stuff like "I shudder to think what will be involved swapping a mainboard in a WOZ...." and supporting the inappropriateness of WOZ using a PC with the 2 hours it took him to get a barcode printer driver working (???). So, I'm sure he'll still be where the audience is more like-minded.

In another place I was trying to get him to understand that what he said here and on his site wasn't cool, regardless of his later excuses for why he said it... but let's just say he didn't get the picture. Oh well.

Of course you'd know better than his own business. Stick to necros, sunnybank.

I know a few people who want opto flipper boards as replacements, of course, but any new game manufacturer I'm sure will avoid the whole mess and use regular switch contacts.

The flipper switch contact was a "problem" that did not need to be fixed.

I'm guessing that they would have went with another theme?

I doubt that they would have said F you stupid North Americans, we aren't going to sell to you!

True, but most of mine need to be replaced.

Since I provide legal advice for business owners on a daily basis across a broad range of industries, I can certainly advise as to the efficacy of this business direction.

Not above the Merthyr bowls club shemales, Norman.....

Fancy words for conveyancing. Murray bridge is a hot spot for legal advice, and reknown worldwide as a minge court.

Don't you still live with your parents? Opinion is invalid.

Mergers and acquisitions actually, a little more complicated than general conveyancing.

It seems you are mistaken as to a number of matters (including your use of the incorrectly spelled word "reknown" (sic)).

Hope this doesn't crush your ego too much, but feel free to keep projecting your insecurity.

You're funny.

Those who matter know me, those who don't rely on supposition and idle gossip to shore up their insecurities.

INTERMISSION!

Exactly.

Really is that why you have a photo of my father as your avatar you pathetic man. A true professional.

An absolute over reaction here from Homepin due to a few negative posts. It will be hard to recover after the small minded idiots statement.

After, but not due to, I'm sure.

Lucky for the USA and Canada customers as Homepin is once again selling parts to you all.

Yeah.... We're the lucky ones. You know the close minded idiots? This thread and the screenshots of his website will live in infamy.

Luckily we have brand new users on Pinside to provide us notification of his contrition.

No thanks, I'll pass....

Ditto, got nothing I need or want.
Vera is in Nigeria, that is where his target market lives.

Nobody saw that coming...

When I first saw this thread I got excited because Thunderbirds is part of the pop culture I grew up with. I then waited and watched as the thread petered out because most didn't know about the theme or said it was lame.

It took the producer of this product to say that he was not interested in the overseas market anyway, for more reasons than some insulting posts, to get anybodys real attention. How sad. A little encouragement can go a long way in this world.

I will also be passing on anything douchepin related on principal.
This guy and his bitch with a skinned knee attitude makes me ashamed to be an Australian.
He is a dead set clown.

Nothing to be ashamed about, lots of good people in Oz and us stupid Americans and Canadians are smart enough to not lump all Aussies in the same category as this wingnut.

Ditto, we will be picking up X-Pin's DMDs instead.

+1

What he did was, at best, not a very clever thing to do.

Yes a little too late for Homepin to recover from that.

Hey, now, the Wingnut group of companies is from New Zealand, and make some absolutely fantastic products. Helps that Peter Jackson is at the helm. Definitely check out their WWI model kits if you're a builder.

-Hans

Maybe we could see a meet the feebles pinball.