Disclaimer: I have known Paul and Sandra for over a decade, I don’t work for GOBI and don’t own a Toyota. I’m a GOBI reseller and have been for a few years now but I’ve known them for much longer. I actually owned the second rack they ever made, the first was the prototype Paul made for his H2 in 2003. I only mention that because I remember when they were the small guys… but…. they were the only game in town back then and they capitalized on the concept of making big solid full adventure racks built for specific vehicles. I won’t say which reseller I am because I am not a sponsor on this forum and I’m not trying to solicit business. If a mod wants to know I’ll tell them via a PM and verify via a work email account.
Sandra called me this morning to ask my advice on a “forum problem”. I had not read this thread and basically said you can’t fight social media, if your position is steadfast and not what they want to hear, you either ignore it or just state your case, maybe try to clarify a point or two and let them all have at it. Generally these things blow over eventually when the next thing the majority perceives as wrong pops up, like a lion named Cecil or whatever
Well, curiosity got the better of me so I googled and found this train wreck!
A few comments formulated mostly by just reading this thread. I certainly don’t know all the details either and GOBI don’t know I’m posting this.
1). Complaints/lawsuits just work like this, so I’m not sure why people are so confused with the process. Something like this landed in my inbox a few years ago when I started, and yes, the first time you get a complaint/lawsuit (same thing) dropped in your email your anxiety level hits defcon 2. I found out a lot, and… no, you don’t need to spend a penny on a lawyer to understand what they want, even if you can’t understand the lawyer talk in the complaint. As the plaintiff, you get one shot at asking for what you want, so you ask for what you would want in the event of having to actually take it all the way to a judge. Court is never the intent though, it costs a fortune (rarely does the plaintiff get the legal fees back even if they say they will be asking for them in the complaint), it’s a shot across the bow and it’s just the way it works.
WMW, a lot of the posts on this thread are bad advice, call the attorney or Paul directly (he’s a really nice guy) and they/he will tell you exactly what they are asking for and why. Listen, think about it and you then you have to make a decision, but you won’t have spent any money at that point.
2). Patent law is complicated (I don’t fully understand it either) but as Paul said, he’s been involved with them for a long time and way before he and Sandra started GOBI. If I ever needed advice on patent law I would ask him actually. Regardless of the opinion of a bunch of forum people, GOBI (obviously), see strong evidence of infringement. A patent is not about angles or tube ODs, it’s about concepts and in this arena GOBI got there first apparently or they would not have been awarded to them. The posts about Thule and other racks are not really apples to apples, again IMHO, they don’t make the same type of high end vehicle specific adventure racks and GOBI don’t make generic car racks. Paul and Sandra are business people, they didn’t pay their lawyer to advise them and subsequently file the complaint on a whim or out of spite to stop a small guy building a few racks. They are protecting their (and their employees) livelihood, as they should. As Paul mentioned, they’ve been burnt doing this the “nice” (wrong) way, that’s why seasoned companies hire lawyers and do it the “right” way, it’s nothing personal it’s business. Not one business, ever, has said they like paying or even talking to lawyers
3). All the people who think R&D including ramping it up to production levels, hiring/paying/training employees, getting patents etc. is easy have no idea. One guy nailed it toward the beginning of the thread so no need to elaborate.
4). ID2K are not goliath, it’s essentially a mom and pop shop with 27 employees, most on the non-GOBI part of the business I believe. I bet 100% Paul was out back with his guys all day welding racks with the shop door open (because of the heat) getting covered in crap and Sandra is doing a million and one things in the office. Summer is always busy for them, the business is cyclical, and it’s really hard for them to ramp up and down without letting staff go which they hate. Bottom line, they are two very hands on, down to earth people working their asses off to keep the lights on.
5). It’s obvious how busy they are and how they prioritize their time by the way they “handle” social media, insert sarcasm, they don’t
. The Amanda thing, well what can you say about that, I’m perplexed too, a poor idea at best but I don’t think was done with bad intentions but… wow…. I may have to explain how IPs and burner email accounts work, joke (obviously) but it would still have been so obvious
. Amanda clearly made a mistake and I have no clue if it was sanctioned or not.
6). Running a business with employees that are dependent on you is not a game and you have to make hard decisions for the long haul as best you can. Some decisions work and some don’t. How many companies have regretted not spending the huge effort it takes to patent their designs and gone out of business? I won’t say dog-eat-dog but it’s not “fair” or a country club!
7). WMW sounds like a good person and I hope he is successful over the years.
Out.
