As mentioned in my previous article, two experiences several years apart moulded my thoughts “To Patent or Not To Patent”. The first article shared a personal experience with a Taiwanese tool manufacturer copying our entire product line. Today, I would like to share another experience, this one in the health and wellness industry.
Back some time now, I was one of the founders of a young start-up health and wellness company. We signed an agreement with a Taiwanese inventor who created a multi-patented hybrid slow juicer. I still use this juicer today. It produces a superior juice (flavour and texture) through its patented technology. The Taiwanese inventor lived in Xiamen and developed, designed, and manufactured his unique juicer in China. Importantly, the inventor patented his technology in China, the United States, and other countries.
With the rights to the juicer secured, our young start-up negotiated an agreement with Jay Kordich; private labelling the juicer, Jay Kordich PowerGrind Pro. For reference, Jay Kordich, often referred to as the Father of Juicing and/or the “Juiceman”, was the personality that “evangelized” the health benefits of juicing in the USA. The Juiceman Juicer was the most popular infomercial for a very long time. So much so, that Jim Carrey imitated Jay Kordich on the TV series, In Living Color. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqqDoBa0JgA
Fast forward, the Taiwanese inventor had a falling out with one of his business partners and the disgruntled business partner took his juicer technology knowledge and teamed up with a very large US health and wellness company that was already manufacturing juicers and exporting and selling huge volumes of juicers to the US. At the time, Jack Lalanne was this company’s health and wellness celebrity spokesperson.
The intellectual property problems all started when the disgruntled ex-business partner decided to pass the unique and proprietary juicer technology to a large US company. With our inventor’s technology in hand, this company then started producing a “knock-off” juicer in their factory in China. This patent dispute looked to have all the hallmarks of a David and Goliath stand-off. Our young start-up was just getting off the ground while the US company had hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and was very well established.
Living in China, our juicer inventor hired a lawyer in China who informed the large US company that the juicer ‘knock-off” that they were manufacturing in China was infringing on multiple patents filed in China, US and more. On notice with the Chinese patent information and more, the large US company agreed to cease and desist and discontinue the juicers with the patented technology. Unexpectedly, the dispute was resolved very quickly; probably in less than 30 days.
This could have been a long drawn out patent battle. One possible recourse would have been to seek injunctions to stop all manufacturing and distribution of the juicer; both domestically in China and internationally. Thank goodness, this was never required, and all ended well. Again, without patents, our company would have been forced out of business before we even started.
Back some time now, I was one of the founders of a young start-up health and wellness company. We signed an agreement with a Taiwanese inventor who created a multi-patented hybrid slow juicer. I still use this juicer today. It produces a superior juice (flavour and texture) through its patented technology. The Taiwanese inventor lived in Xiamen and developed, designed, and manufactured his unique juicer in China. Importantly, the inventor patented his technology in China, the United States, and other countries.
With the rights to the juicer secured, our young start-up negotiated an agreement with Jay Kordich; private labelling the juicer, Jay Kordich PowerGrind Pro. For reference, Jay Kordich, often referred to as the Father of Juicing and/or the “Juiceman”, was the personality that “evangelized” the health benefits of juicing in the USA. The Juiceman Juicer was the most popular infomercial for a very long time. So much so, that Jim Carrey imitated Jay Kordich on the TV series, In Living Color. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqqDoBa0JgA
Fast forward, the Taiwanese inventor had a falling out with one of his business partners and the disgruntled business partner took his juicer technology knowledge and teamed up with a very large US health and wellness company that was already manufacturing juicers and exporting and selling huge volumes of juicers to the US. At the time, Jack Lalanne was this company’s health and wellness celebrity spokesperson.
The intellectual property problems all started when the disgruntled ex-business partner decided to pass the unique and proprietary juicer technology to a large US company. With our inventor’s technology in hand, this company then started producing a “knock-off” juicer in their factory in China. This patent dispute looked to have all the hallmarks of a David and Goliath stand-off. Our young start-up was just getting off the ground while the US company had hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and was very well established.
Living in China, our juicer inventor hired a lawyer in China who informed the large US company that the juicer ‘knock-off” that they were manufacturing in China was infringing on multiple patents filed in China, US and more. On notice with the Chinese patent information and more, the large US company agreed to cease and desist and discontinue the juicers with the patented technology. Unexpectedly, the dispute was resolved very quickly; probably in less than 30 days.
This could have been a long drawn out patent battle. One possible recourse would have been to seek injunctions to stop all manufacturing and distribution of the juicer; both domestically in China and internationally. Thank goodness, this was never required, and all ended well. Again, without patents, our company would have been forced out of business before we even started.