Risk of all puzzle designers & producers (particularly in USA market)!

[calvinfan]

> Here are the listings that were removed:
> 291053708377 - Calvin's Puzzles 3x3x5 Super X-Cube with Evgeniy logo - Stickerless
> We encourage you to contact Moving Parts, LLC directly if you have any questions.
> You can send an email to: [email protected]
> The person who filed the claim was: Dane Christianson, [email protected]

Recently, we got all the ebay and amazon listings of Calvin's Puzzles 3x3x5 X-cube and Super X-Cube being removed by a guy, called Dane Christianson, [email protected] / [email protected].
The listings including our own ebay now store and the stores of several honorable resellers.

I think that most of us still remember this guy, see the thread below,
1. http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=24887 ( Jan 02, 2013 )
2. http://www.twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=25631&start=0&hilit=Dane+Christianson
( Jun 13, 2013 )
grigr (evgeniy, our 335 series designer) : but this puzzle already patented and mass produced (Jan 03, 2013 )

While we are working on the 3x3x5 cuboid series production including x-cube at his 1st tp thread ( Jan 02, 2013 ), this guy still raised a project on kickstarter ( Jun 13, 2013 ).
Though our designer,evgeniy, had told him that we were making the x-cube at the very begining, he ignored him totally and kept his project on kickstarter, applied the patent in USA after that.

insaDane (Dane Christianson) :
> I don't want this puzzle to be an issue. I made the X-Cube open source, I'm letting people > download the files, and I don't want to pursue a patent or take any time to sue people. That's not my style. We should find a way to make this puzzle kick ass in the market this Christmas. What do you think?
I was convinced not to complain to kickstarter about his kickstarter project as he said in public that he don't want to pursue a patent or take any time to sue people. That's not his style.

So that, I contacted this guy for collaboration, but he said to prefer to work on his own.
I have told him that I have no interest to legal case, he can sell his own brand x-cube and we sell ours.

A big shock and dis-appointment, this guy was lying to everybody in twisty puzzle forum.
This guy had applied the trademark "x-cube" which is the brand of Taiwan xb27 (x-cube 4 inventor and producer) in 2010. And, have his so-called X-cube patent pending now, while we had our patent applied and granted for a long time. He had neither informed or asked xb27 for his authorization and stole xb27's band "x-cube" as his trademark. That are actual "Patent Trolling" and "Brand/trademark Trolling", a crime actually.
I heard about this criminal behaviours in China, but never thought that happened in USA and done by a well-educated university student.

Our X-cube patent number : 212013302551766 Grant date : 18, Sept, 2013,
Inventor : Evgeniy Grigoriev, Country : Russia

Jeffrey Mayoff on October 18, 2013 I just came across this on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/X-cube-Series-Calvins-Functional-Evgeniy/dp/B00FQFKI10/ref=sr_1_97…
What's going on?
Dane Christianson on October 21, 2013
@Jeffrey Looks like a knock-off. I'll have to do something about them taking my name as well.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danec/the-x-cube/comments

It is not possible that we and evgeniy started to copy, design, make mould of his x-cube one year before his 1st thread on tp ( Jan 02, 2013 ) .
He is now attacking all our resellers who selling the Calvin's Puzzles 3x3x5 X-cubes and Super X-Cubes. Telling in public (again) that we and our designer, evgeniy, are designing and making knock-off of his x-cube.

His ignorance, selfish, criminal behaviors and attacking already make us and our resellers angry.
Here, I wanna ask for the advice of all twisty puzzle friends. How to protect our reseller's selling of Calvin's Puzzles 3x3x5 X-cubes and Super X-Cube to from being attacked from this guy ?
Any ways to appeal/withdraw his so-called trademarks "x-cube" and pending patent ?

That is actual a serious Risk of TP puzzle designers & producers ( particularly in USA market as he is living in USA). If he keep trademarking other inventor's puzzle names as his trademarks (trademark Trolling) and patenting other inventor's puzzles (Patent Trolling) in USA. Then, all of us (including me and mr. meffert) will be deeply suffered, and lost the international market, particularly in USA.

Thanks to read the long message, all advices are welcome !

 

[Dane man]

I think that if you want to keep producing the product, you can challenge the patent at the Patent Office. I don't think it requires going before a court if you have evidence of prior art.

As for the trademark, I believe you can challenge it as long as it hasn't reached the 5 year mark (which according to your dates, it hasn't).

I don't know a whole lot about the topic, so I suggest that you get official input from the USPTO (http://www.uspto.gov/) who is in charge of both patents and trademarks in the US.

I wish you guys luck.

Short reference: http://www.blankrome.com/sitefiles/Defending_Against_Patent_Trolls.pdf
Read the part starting on page 9.

 

[calvinfan]

Thanks for your advice.
If this happened in China, we only need to show a design drawings/photo of our X-cube before your patent date, his patent will be withdrawn and invalid.
Same case, xb27 only need to prove his the right owner of his brand "X-cube" in 2010. His trademark will be withdrawn and invalid.

Sadly, this is in USA where I do not familiar with the patent and trademark procedures and laws. Anyway, I shall contact a lawyer and what we can do for this trouble case. Thanks.

 

[stoic]

I remember the speedsolving thread about this.
I've just read back through the whole TP thread, and there seems to be a level of mistrust on both sides which has led to this situation. That's a shame. Certainly the Kickstarter guy (Insadane) is clear that he wants the certainty of a patent to be able to approach major toy manufacturers. (I know that contradicts the other statement from him you quote above). But having avoided the opportunity to collaborate with you (or talk with you, by the look of it) he does appear to be being rather heavy-handed asserting his "rights". Certainly he has a ready-made market for the product, and there might have been a deal to be done?
I hope you get a good resolution...but at this stage, it looks like it might get ugly.

 

[Michael Womack]

I did once saw someone make a Kickstarter for this puzzle http://tonyfisherpuzzles.net/157SlideTwistTwistSlidePuzzle.html without Tony's approval. Once I saw it I quickly reported it to Tony an soon after that like within 24 hours it got canceled. I'm always looking out for stuff like that and even on the look to see if anyone else is selling puzzles without the original creators approval. As someone who is a puzzle modder/designer that has made some original puzzle designs I don't want someone making about 20 copies of my own design and selling them on ebay without me the original designer making money off of it nor do I approve it. I always look online and do some research and check to see if my mod idea has already been made before I clam it as my original design. I sometimes get messages form people saying if it's ok for them to make one for themselfs I say yes to that for the most part of it but if they end up selling it or make more for other people then I wouldn't like that. Just to sum it up the original designer needs to be notified before any selling needs to be done.

 

[calvinfan]

I did once saw someone make a Kickstarter for this puzzle http://tonyfisherpuzzles.net/157SlideTwistTwistSlidePuzzle.html without Tony's approval. Once I saw it I quickly reported it to Tony an soon after that like within 24 hours it got canceled. ...

> insaDane (Dane Christianson) :
> I don't want this puzzle to be an issue. I made the X-Cube open source, I'm letting people > download the files, and I don't want to pursue a patent or take any time to sue people. That's not my style. We should find a way to make this puzzle kick ass in the market this Christmas. What do you think?
I was convinced not to complain to kickstarter about his kickstarter project as he said in public that he don't want to pursue a patent or take any time to sue people. That's not his style.
So that, I contacted this guy for collaboration, but he said to prefer to work on his own.
I have told him that I have no interest to legal case, he can sell his own brand x-cube and we sell ours.

Thanks for your idea. I was convinced not to complain to kickstarter about his kickstarter project due to the above reason and over-confidence of the personality of that guy at that time.
By the way, to complain to kickstarter, we have to submit the previous drawings, picture and video. What else we need to submit ? and how they handle it usually ?
Who is the best person to contact for this issue ?