POX on OBX!

[George Roffe]

Josh Kinsley wrote:

>Where should the line be drawn? Do aftermarket oil filters and spark plugs
>violate the ethical standard?

I don't think so.  Both involve their own engineering.

>How about aftermarket body panels that are reproductions of the OEM parts?

Pretty much.  However, fiberglass and CF versions are not IMHO since they
also involved their own engineering.

>I believe the legal line is drawn at the U.S. patent office.

Indeed.

>Does hotshot have patent(s) on this design? If not, why?

Because they could never recoup that cost.  Getting a patent isn't exactly
cheap.

>FWIW, I'm a design engineer and often find myself building on the ideas and
>designs of others, as well as worrying that others will 'steal' my work.

Josh, I don't think anyone is griping about someone building upon someone
else's work and improving it.  That is how we have come to have virtually
every single invention and improvements to those inventions.  I think the
gripe is wholesale rip-off and reproducing copies, stealing someone else's
hard work.

George Roffe
Houston, TX  USA
http://www.nissport.com