follow up to the columbia law suit

FOLLOW UP TO COLUMBIA AND SEIRUS LAW SUIT

Published today in SPG’s media online was an article stating that Columbia actually was awarded 3 million dollars for patent infringement of their design patent. What I originally read seemed to say both walked.

I guess Columbia makes gloves. However the jury found that “Columbia’s U.S. Omni-Heat utility patents were invalid”

The 3 million is Seirus profit from these products. Columbia is also asking for the profit gained by the retailers who sold the Seirus gloves. I wonder if the retailers that supposedly have to come up with these profits also carry Columbia products. Maybe they will go elsewhere from now on.

From my limited knowledge of patents a design patent refers to what the product looks like and a utility patent refers to how it works. The jury was in my opinion correct in invalidating the utility patent because the reflective material does not do what either of these companies claim.

Technical speaking the space suits that were first manufactured contained 9 layers of reflective material and to the best of my knowledge that is not the case today. As a matter of fact they do not contain one layer and the reason “it does not work”. What the reflective material is supposed to do is reflect the radiant heat that comes from your hand while in these gloves back to your hands so the stay warm. That simply put does not happen. The reality is the heat coming from each finger while enclosed in the finger sections of the glove do not generate enough heat to give off radiant heat. So there is nothing to reflect back in the first place.

All reference to temperature with respect to physics is measured in heat so even if the temperature is 20 degrees F it is referred to as heat versus cold. Therefore, I suppose there is a reflective heat coming off of cold fingers, cold heat. This reminds me of the guy who calls and tells me he is a cold sleeper. I ask if he actually slept and he says no. maybe I should tell him to get a space blanket so he could put in his sleeping bag so it will reflect his radiant heat back to him. I wouldn’t do that knowing full well it will not work. However, there are companies that actually do make sleeping bags with reflective linings to include Columbia or at least they used too that do not work. All this reflective stuff is a ploy to get people to buy a non-functioning product whether it is gloves, sleeping bags or jackets.

Maybe Columbia wasn’t making sales or profits with their line of products that look like Seirus so when they discovered that Seirus was making profits they decide to sue. Seirus is appealing of course. So each company gets advertising for free when these articles are published.

In reality neither of these companies makes a product that works so the real loser is the consumer who spends the money for them as well as all other products that are made with this nonsensical material.

GROUND PAD SALE

I found we have 18-- 72" x 28" regular ground pads that are made with the Army ACU digital green 1000 denier Cordora. Sale price is $70.00 each. You can find them on the web site.