[pct-l] Beaks (on tarps, not birds)

[Brett Tucker" <blisterfree@earthlink.net (Brett Tucker)]

I'm just going to reiterate what I wrote (copied!) from the GL website, and
leave it at that. I am not a patent lawyer, but I do know a borrowed idea
sans homage when I see one. I'm being general and not naming any specific
occurences, because we're all friends here and no one is doing anything with
malicious intent.

*******

Cave shelters combine the versatility and ventilation of tarps with the
weather protection of tents. Their Variable Geometry Beaks TM (patent
pending) accomplish this by automatically changing their angle with the
height of
your pitch.



----- Original Message -----
From: Joanne Lennox <goforth@cio.net>
To: Brett Tucker <blisterfree@earthlink.net>; Steve Courtway
<scourtway@bpa-arch.com>; Pacific Crest Trail
<pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 12:47 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Beaks (on tarps, not birds)


> Hum , the "beak" looks just like my Seab tent design, which I got in 1968
> and use still.
> The fly of Seab is EXACTLY like the the one shown on your enclosed
website,
> and I have used the fly as a tarp many times.
>
> a duck by any other name is still the same.  I know little about patent
> law, but it would seem that just giving a design feature  that has been
> used for 35 years, a name , does not constitute  a patent infringement.
>
> > I mention this not to be astringent, but to save other commercial
> retailers
> > from any headaches.
> ----------
>
> What headaches are we talking here?  Why is Ray so propriitary about a
> basic feature in common use?
>
> Joanne