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Amusement Park May Get Sued For Patent Infringing Ride
from the the-roller-coaster-of-patent-law dept
As a kid, I used to go to a lot of amusement parks. I actually spent a couple summers at a camp that basically drove around the east coast from amusement park to amusement park. After a while, you become pretty familiar with the "standard" rides -- and while different amusement parks have different themes, the rides follow a basic theme, and that's actually a good thing. You do see variations on those themes, as different providers differentiate and tweak different designs to make them better and even more enjoyable. But, these days, that's becoming more and more difficult because, you guessed it, amusement park ride-makers are using patents to stop competitors.
Reader Jerry S points us to the story of how Cedar Point, one of the more famous amusement parks around (yeah, I went there too) might run itself into a legal fight because it wants to buy a ride called the Wind Seeker, made by Dutch firm Mondial. The only problem is that competing ride maker Funtime Group, from Australia, makes a ride called the StarFlyer, on which they hold a patent (7666103), and they say that the Wind Seeker infringes. Also, Funtime claims that it'll be suing Cedar Point -- though, oddly, it has no plans to sue Mondial.
Now this is actually a case where Mondial admits, straight up, that it came up with this ride as a response to StarFlyer, saying they were getting requests from customers for a ride like StarFlyer, but which functioned better in more windy conditions (hence the name Wind Seeker, perhaps). And this is exactly how innovation is supposed to work. You have one product that doesn't fully meet the needs of clients, even if it has some nice features, and so competitors come along and tweak it and innovate... and the originator is supposed to come along and innovate on top of that as well. Sitting back and threatening to sue for patent infringement isn't innovation at all.
Reader Jerry S points us to the story of how Cedar Point, one of the more famous amusement parks around (yeah, I went there too) might run itself into a legal fight because it wants to buy a ride called the Wind Seeker, made by Dutch firm Mondial. The only problem is that competing ride maker Funtime Group, from Australia, makes a ride called the StarFlyer, on which they hold a patent (7666103), and they say that the Wind Seeker infringes. Also, Funtime claims that it'll be suing Cedar Point -- though, oddly, it has no plans to sue Mondial.
Now this is actually a case where Mondial admits, straight up, that it came up with this ride as a response to StarFlyer, saying they were getting requests from customers for a ride like StarFlyer, but which functioned better in more windy conditions (hence the name Wind Seeker, perhaps). And this is exactly how innovation is supposed to work. You have one product that doesn't fully meet the needs of clients, even if it has some nice features, and so competitors come along and tweak it and innovate... and the originator is supposed to come along and innovate on top of that as well. Sitting back and threatening to sue for patent infringement isn't innovation at all.
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Reader Comments (rss)
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That's pretty much the mantra these days
Also, I'm getting my lawyers to take the ladders down.
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I also have a hard time respecting a company in Australia litigating against a theme park so far away that they can't be even considered competition. I can understand trying to protect themselves if this was nearby competition, but I think they are completely violating the spirit of innovation by litigating. It's not like they are the one ones who came up with the idea of "parasol chairs", they innovated off of the idea, just like Cedar Point did as well.
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Plus the one they are building is different then the one in the patent. As long as you change at least one little thing it shouldn't be infringing on their patent.
I hope Cedar Fair doesn't collapse to the pressure and change their plans. If you go to any amusement park they all have similar rides to one another.
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Next
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The good ol days
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Re: That's pretty much the mantra these days
Newton was kind of an asshole.
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I just bet that you did.
That explains your privileged, lightweight, escapist views.
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Re: I just bet that you did.
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Also, I believe Cedar Fair is buying 5 or 6 of these to put in various parks across the country. I'm sure that is why Funtime is trying to presure them into buying their product.
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Imagine if Ford had the patent on horseless carriages. We all would be stuck driving a black car because black was the only color he would approve. Not to mention all of the other improvements to cars. Ford wasn't interested in improving the car just the way the car was produced.
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I also don't see why the plaintiff is characterized as lazy.
If Wind Seeker is more fun than StarFlyer, there will be more demand for it. StarFlyer may be driven out of the market. Or Mondail can come up with new ways to improve its ride in other ways than copying StarFlyer.
Seems like the patent system is driving both parties to innovate, exactly like it is supposed to.
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Amusement park toy wars are not amusing.
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Does it have wheels? Remember, Australia has a patent on the wheel too.
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open your eyes
"Mondial shouldn't be allowed to profit by stealing from StarFlyer."
I agree, but he's not stealing. At worst he's copying and there is nothing wrong with that.
"I also don't see why the plaintiff is characterized as lazy. "
Open your eyes.
"Or Mondail can come up with new ways to improve its ride in other ways than copying StarFlyer."
Nothing wrong with copying.
"Seems like the patent system is driving both parties to innovate, exactly like it is supposed to."
If you mean new and innovative ways of creating frivolous litigation, litigation that takes money and resources away from true innovation, then I completely agree.
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I got shuttled off to a Catholic day camp where the only break between having the bible rammed down your throat in a mosquito infested open air hall was swimming and making stupid crafts like macaroni pictures. Thanks Mom & Dad!
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Isn't there an issue with the fact that Cedar Fair (owners of Cedar Point) had some type of agreement to build a StarFlyer at Cedar Point before they hired Mondial to create a similar ride that it doesn't currently offer. Is Cedar Fair's pre-existing agreement with FunTime the crux of the issue? If they would have at least built the one they had agreed to at Cedar Point maybe there wouldn't have been such a big issue.
By the way, the parks are: Cedar Point (Sandusky,OH), Knott's Berry Farm (LA-Area), Kings Island(Cinncinnati,OH), and Canada's Wonderland (Toronto). Their height will set them a part from the rides many of you are thinking of. They're going to be 300 feet (30 stories tall). FunTime has built them even taller!
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