Inliners International Forums General Discussion Bench racing Patrick Dykes Legal Issue

Read this over on Stovebolt and thought I'd post it here.Webmaster delete if necessary.


http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/340129#Post340129

I've heard that this is not the first time this sort of behaviour has gone on.
All I can say is.....good luck Pat.

Dear Mark;

There are "copycats" every where it seems these days. The reason is that; the legal costs ($300+ an Hr.) are prohibitive for most small folks/family operations.

A 'poacher' can make a lot of money before being stopped by the Courts and their attitude is "why not"?

Patrick's has always helped us here too. Good luck to them.

Alot of good point were made.BUT the biggest thing I see,IS the patent Still good and up to
date Like the One guy said.If not Then yes It can be up for grabs BY anyone.Same goes for any copy rights. But Im not a Lawyer So what do i know.That
is just theway i have always understood it.

L;

Your right about the Patent, if there is one etc.

Who knows if there's a Trade Mark or what Fenton did, way back then. It was a different time & knowone would have EVER 'thought of' stealing something like that.

Copyrites are for writings, films/video, music and 'artistic' creations.

It will be a 'legal battle', that's for sure.

Generally our patent system today is so antiquated that the patlent law is decades behind. copyrights are more valuable in most cases.

As a side note, this is exactly the type forum that belongs in a new column for the BB board. sure, its inline, its bench racing, its all that stuff. But with something emotionally charged like this, you are going to have people excited and I'll bet you get some inflamatory, political, legal etc, posts.

Just my observation

No because the topic will them be closed !!

Wow, that's HARSH! What Unmittable gall to come and tell you, at your place of business too (unless I read that wrong). If there are 'production rights' I would expect that the name and or the design are covered by something. Last I heard a patent is good for 15 years and can be renewed once (for another 15 years). However, if he changes them, like if SB leaves the Fenton name off you might have a tough row to hoe.
Didn't Vic Edelbrock Jr. have the same problem with someone producing merchandise with his company name and logo a while ago? He was able to sue that into oblivion, but I expect he has deeper pockets too. There was a time when this sort of thing could have been settled without attourneys, and no jail time would have ensued. Not today, seems like you need a writ to blow your nose in business anymore (if you care and are a responsible businessman, as opposed to a rip off artist).

As the original poster,I did consider this. That's why I suggested to the Webmaster to remove my posting if he thought it inappropriate.

N;

That's a HUGE part of the problem too!!

Our Civil Courts are "jammed" with frivolous Law Suits & It's really hard to get anyone to serve on a Jury. In the meantime; "crooks" get away with BS like this, because It's NOT a crime etc.

"Time will tell", on this one.

Happy trails.

Dear Drew;

FYI: Patrick Dykes was involved (knows) with most of our Club's founders, 'way back when; it was created etc. It's good that you posted it for us and him.

It fits within the new guidelines too.


Tom;

The 'forum change issue' is dead (less that 1% voted) and the debate is over.

Happy trails.

Actually, I feel this topic affects Inliners and fits very well in Bench Racing. It was posted to inform us of an unfortunate situation, and should be viewed as such.

If anyone out there doesn't know who Patrick Dykes is; he is Inliner #67, a Past President and Lifetime Member, and was inducted into the Inliners Hall of Fame in 2002 for outstanding contributions to the Inliners and promotion of the inline engine. He owns Patrick's in Casa Grande Arizona.

Now, if you follow Drew's link to the Stovebolt site you can read the whole post. You can also see how it broke down into a fiasco in only one page, and with the moderators statement, you can only wonder about the original intent of the whole thing.

Also, the poll now going on is a simple majority vote of those BB users who care to express their choice. At this time it is almost 70% in favor of keeping us all 'Inline'. The poll will remain open until about 8pm on the 24th.

Poll? I'll have to go look, haven't seen it yet.


Found it, dunno how I missed it either. :rolleyes:

Titled "Everything Else", poll open till 'about' 8:00pm (Guessing Pacific Standard Time) the 24th (today).

Hmm, either battle for them is going the right way or I am missing something, checked the "other" website and the fenton's are listed as discontinued? just curious

B;

The Court's may have ordered them to "cease & desist" pending the outcome of the case. This is sometimes called a (TRO) or; "temporary restraining order".

If you want the 'authorized'* Fenton Headers, call Patrick's at (520) 836-1117.

Happy trails.

(*) Patrick Dykes purchased the molds & rights to the name/design (20+ years ago) from the original producer, the late Mr. Fenton.

I've delt with Mr. Dykes on several past occasions and he,his company, along with his family, has always been in the "Inliners" and old car/truck's ownwer's corner. He will take any amount of time to explain and help you and in my case, overnight a part you need

I was broken down with my '40 when it had the 216 in it with a broken motor mount, which in turn "rocked" the motor, and broke one of the Fenton exhaust manifold loose. Ear tab busted. Yes, I was Hotrodding at Back to the 50's weekend and did something really stupid. This was on a Friday afternoon and by Sat. morning 10:00 am, my new parts had arrived at the hotel. That's what I call dedicated and helpful.

An old saying from the 70's keeps playing over in my head, "Don't buy books from crooks". In other words, go to the source when in doubt. There's a segment of people out there only in it for one thing.

Support our troops and our American manufactuers. I have made a deal with myself not to purchase anything made in China for 6 months.
Try doing that. Think about it and look at all the labels. Christmas will be interesting this year! And very light! Grandkids will be getting "homemade gifts" which I love to do.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

HEY, CHOPPED 40--let me know if you plan on attending 50`s this coming summer, would like to meet ya----we live in Minnesota and we always go.....52er

52er,

I'll let you know. I now live in Dayton, OH. It's a bit of a drive but well worth it. It was only 6 hours from Milwaukee but now I have to add another 7 hours to that.

Always a great time and great people.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

Beauty---very nice!!!!

Hey RapRap, good luck with that. Hope you are able to avoid stuff intentionally mis labled as to country of origin (stay outa Walmart).

I hope the legal issue comes out the right way, and quickly too. Court costs and attourny fees are unreal. I know of one here that gets 6 Hrs billable for every hour he works a case, OUTSIDE of court (he states he has his paralegals working that much for each hour he does, so..).

Nex;

With the parties several States apart and two Lawyers @ $400 Hr. each, It's a REAL mess.

A 'sign of the times' I guess. It would have been so much simpler to just buy a 'license' from Patricks & pay the fee. Then he could have Mfg. all he wanted and "everyone wins".

This way only the Lawyers win.

FUBAR.

I was checking out their web site and noticed that they have the Trade Mark rights to Fenton headers for flat head Fords, but not six cyl chevys. My only question is did they try to buy the rights to produce the chevys and couldn't reach an agreement or why would they go to Patrick's and tell them they were going to start selling them. That sounds a little strange, would you call up a bank and tell them you were going to be in tomorrow to rob them. I also noticed that they have discontinued the sale of chevy fentons for now. There is only a price difference of $8.00 if Patricks personal service isn't worth eight bucks, I don't know what to tell you.

B;

Hard to say, we'll have to 'wait & see'.
We don't have all the facts either and the Court's will have to decide it.

Check my post on this a few days back.

Happy trails.

John, yep! I have gone after competitors business with my company, but never gone to their face and told them how I was gonna out hustle them! DOH!
Bright side is that I had never heard of Patricks, though i haven't heard of a lot of things! And having a 40 with a 216 to rebuild, I have found a lot of cool things on their website! By the way Chopped, nice ride!

Thanks Bamadirt,

Before I updated to a 292, I ran the 216 with Alum. Fenton dual carb intake, W-1's, and Fenton split manifold. Patrick's helped a lot with all of my goodies for that motor. I also ran the 6-volt system and drove over 500 miles to hotrod events. If you need any help with your '40, you can find all the help you need at this website!

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

WoW! You ran exactly the same setup i want to run! though my uncle converted the car completely to a 12 volt system and found a neat little dizzy on langdon's site that looks stock!

I have always been amazed to be treated like an old friend by Patrick and Philip. From the first call I got great service. Fentons,shifter,springs,etc. When I abused the springs on my 2 mile bolder road they sent me new ones,TWICE! I'll stand with Patrick's. Too bad the other guy has lots of good stuff. I hope they work this out.

Patrick probably comes up as the one to call/ask more times than anyone else when stovebolt and early GMC questions get asked and If I still had an early 6 in the 48 I would be gathering pieces from him.

I hate to see it when they have to do battle with an outfit who was probably one of their larger outlets. There are lawyers who go after outfits who use an unauthorized name on a product or represent a product to be (the same as). Just name any of your products HOG and see who shows up at the door.

I hope they win is all I have to say.

Just one more thing,thanks to every one here for the way you treat each other! It makes this place not only informative but comfortable and enjoyable. I was angered at how some of those guys went after Phillip. He is rightfully upset and needs to vent and let us know whats up. It's easy to be an"eBad a--" from 7 states away. Anyway thanks!