Has the Horst Link patent expired ?

adamfo
adamfo Posts: 763
edited January 2014 in MTB general
Surprised to see Canyon's Spectral first English language test done in a country where they aren't sold !
If the Horst-link suspension is out of patent I guess the American market is going to be flooded with models that previously couldn't be sold there without an expensive licensing agreement.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Canyon-Spe ... iewed.html

Comments

  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    I think it has yes, though Specialized tried, or did, try and re patent aspects of it.
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  • poah
    poah Posts: 3,369
    got this from another site

    The Horst link patent was filed on September 9th, 1994 and issued on April 23rd, 1996. So best case for Specialized, the patent will expire September 9th, 2014. However, the patent that was granted was a continuation of a patent filed January 21, 1993, and that abandoned patent was a "continuation-in-part" of a patent filed one year earlier to the day. If either of those earlier patents are considered the earliest filing date then The longer of the two terms outlined above would be 17 years after the date of April 23, 1996. That means that the patent would expire the 23rd of next month (April 23rd, 2013).



    only applies to the US not Canada or central/south america
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  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?

    Why on earth would they do that when DW-link is a far better system?
  • poah
    poah Posts: 3,369
    lawman wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?

    Why on earth would they do that when DW-link is a far better system?

    not really - it has advantages but also disadvantages. there is no one perfect system.
    CCDB IL coil CS first impressions

    MTB Scotland youtube channel
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    lawman wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?

    Why on earth would they do that when DW-link is a far better system?

    The older horst link bikes were much better than the new dw link frame
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Cynical Northwind won't be surprised if some companies that claimed their suspension system was the best quietly convert to horst links. Though having said that, I predicted Kona would instantly, and that turned out to be cobblers, so what do I know?
    Uncompromising extremist
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    lawman wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?

    Why on earth would they do that when DW-link is a far better system?

    The older horst link bikes were much better than the new dw link frame

    Have you ridden the old ones?
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    lawman wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    lawman wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    New horst link Turner 5 Spot for 2015?

    Why on earth would they do that when DW-link is a far better system?

    The older horst link bikes were much better than the new dw link frame

    Have you ridden the old ones?

    Yes, a 2005 model and also a 2011 model. The 2005 was one of the best bikes I have ridden.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    The old Turners were said to be great - my mate had a 5 spot from the 2005 era - and Turner brayed on about the horst link until they decided to go with the cheaper design (cheaper as in less money to spesh) and then they did a huge about face saying the pivot point on the rear triangle didnt really matter after all - always struck me a sa big f*** you to the people who bought the earlier frames.
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Aye, similiar to Chris King headsets "This is totally the design we want to use, we're not just cheaping out of paying a licence fee. Yes it does eat fork steerers, but don't worry about that. Oh the patent expired today? Well here is our revised headset, using the exact design we always claimed was inferior" The bit I really like was when they offered to sell the upgraded parts to people with the old, inferior headset, in order to stop it from destroying their forks.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    paul.skibum wrote:
    The old Turners were said to be great - my mate had a 5 spot from the 2005 era - and Turner brayed on about the horst link until they decided to go with the cheaper design (cheaper as in less money to spesh) and then they did a huge about face saying the pivot point on the rear triangle didnt really matter after all - always struck me a sa big f*** you to the people who bought the earlier frames.

    It shows that Turner knew nothing about suspension - the braking characteristics were what changed.
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