With the impending release of the Space Cowboy, I am wondering if this means the death of the YoyoJam patent with respect to dense materials on the rim? This Space Cowboy looks like it violates what we all have been led to believe is the YoyoJam patent on these types of yo-yo’s. If this can be sold in the USA without a license, then there is nothing stopping the Yoyorecreation Triad and Draupnir from being sold as well.
It appears there is finally enough $ in this fight to challenge this interpretation of the very general patent.
Well, I am not a lawyer… But if I’m not mistaken, patents have time limits. I know that different classes of patents have different time limits, but maybe it has expired?
Does anybody have more knowledge about the time limits on patents and what kind of patent YYJ’s is?
If it’s actually expired now, or will be soon, then bring on the bi-metal rims!
I’m glad that companies are doing this.
Its not like YYJ is really doing much with the patent, so I hope that they don’t stop American bimetals from being released
The referenced patent regarding weighted yoyo rims is US Patent # 6206749, granted on 2001-03-27. The patent expires 20 years from its filing date, which was 2000-02-24, so it’s got another 5 1/2 years to go.
db
*edit, had munged the 2001 year in the original granted date above, fixed now!
One other tidbit of information. The original patent is a “utility” patent. There is another type of patent named a “design” patent. Design patents cover the ornamental, or visual aspect of a design/device, whereas the utility patent covers primarily the functional aspects of an invention. Design Patents granted on for applications filed before December 18, 2013 are valid for a period of 14 years from the date of issue. Design patents granted for applications filed on or after December 18, 2013 are valid for a period of 15 years from the date of issue. Oh yeah, YYJ does have some of these design patents currently going through the approval process…
It’s not like other bimetal YoYos haven’t released in the US since the patent. Wait… The Helix existed years ago and was licensed. The Genesis SS was in murky territory. This topic is strange.
More than likely just paid the licensing fee. Not sure what you’re talking about. Why would you be under the assumption that a large company decided to blatantly violate a patent without the license?
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a yo-yo including a pair of yo-yo body halves each formed as a composite having an inner hub, a central dish-shaped main body portion defining an inward facing surface and an annular-shaped peripheral body portion. An axle is threadably engaged at each end thereof into a hub thread formed into each hub along an axis of rotation of the yo-yo. Each hub also includes a shoulder positioned radially adjacent the hub thread which, when the axle is fully tightened in frictional engagement into each hub thread by tightening rotation between the body halves, bear against one another to define a minimum gap between the inward facing surfaces of the body halves. A miniature bearing is also provided having an inner ring tightly frictionally engaged over each shoulder, each end of the bearing extending into an annular recess formed into each inward facing surface adjacent to the hub to maintain a tether in wrapped engagement around an outer ring of the bearing. The outer ring is freely rotatable with respect to the body halves and the axle, the axle rotating with the body halves when the yo-yo is spinning. The axle, when the body halves are forcibly rotated in an axle disengaging direction one to another, causes a corresponding increase in the width of the gap. Each inner facing surface is preferably arcuately shaped whereby the gap very gradually increases in width in a direction radially outwardly from the outer ring.
If you read the patent, be aware that the only legally binding part is of the document is the claim section at the back of the document. This section begin with the words “What is claimed is:”
Does anyone know for a FACT that this yoyo is bi-metal or is this all just speculation? Some of the 2014 Genesis’ have a polished ring but in fact are all aluminum.
If it’s all aluminum, I think it’s a good design aspect for the yoyo. Many players choose to polish out dings that tend to happen to the outer rim. With this design you can polish and keep the yoyo looking new.
