Gameboy70
Member

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018 |
Actually, Concept Kitchen pays Mr. Warman nothing. I asked him on the Better Screen Protectors thread if CK was a licensee of his. Rather than answer the question honestly ("No"), he suggested I contact them. So I called his bluff and emailed the company. Their response:
Re: Warman Patent Claims
Recently you contacted us asking about allegations you have read or seen concerning a patent owned by William Warman. We believe Mr. Warman�s verbal attacks on this company are unfair and illegal. We have so informed Mr. Warman, which may be why he stopped writing to us and our vendors. Rest assured, after we first heard from Mr. Warman in 1998, we hired experienced patent attorneys to evaluate his patent and his demand for exorbitant licensing fees. (Those fees, by the way, would more than double the price of our products.) We have advised Mr. Warman of the advice given by our patent attorneys, including the conclusion that his patent is not valid. The attorneys have further explained to Mr. Warman that this company has �intervening rights� because our product was designed and sold before Mr. Warman obtained his reissue patent. For that additional reason, there is no legal requirement that the company take a license under the patent. Concept Kitchen has always respected the legal rights of others, including intellectual property rights. We will continue to do so in the future. However, we will not pay what amounts to intellectual property ransom. If you have any further questions about this matter, please feel free to contact me. Thanks for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Tim Nugent
Customer Service Manager
Concept Kitchen
Since rclayton is reselling Concept Kitchen's product, Mr. Warman needs to take his legal threat up with Concept Kitchen. Since I posted the above email on the other thread, Mr. Warman has posted replies to other people's comments, but has studiously avoided discussing CK, the one company that has the resources to stand up to his patent extortion. I believe that Warman makes his money not by prevailing in litigation, but in intimidating people into thinking that they can't afford to fight him in court.
By the way, rclayton, I can forward to the email directly if you like, and you can include it in your reply to his email. And bravo to you for taking a stand.
[This message has been edited by Gameboy70 (edited 05-29-2000).]
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