Trigger X Hammer Worms
We learned this weekend that Pure Fishing also filed suit against Normark the same day in the same district court as they sued Shimano’s Innovative Textiles, makers of Power Pro braid, all for patent infringements. This is nothing new in the world of tackle manufacturing.
Design patents are defended almost weekly by companies to avoid being knocked off, but only specific elements of the design can actually be patented so defending them can be tricky at best.
With the Normark suit, Pure Fishing believes that both Patent 6,174,525 which protects the biodegradable design of Gulp! and Patent 5,749,214 which protects the manner in which woven lines are strengthened (i.e. braided fishing lines strength after weave), were infringed upon by Trigger X line of biodegradable products and the Sufix line of braided fishing string.
You can actually view both the Gulp! patent and the Braided line patent online if you’re so inclined to learn more about each.
It will be interesting to see how the braided line suits are settled as well as the decision on the biodegradable lures.
Three large companies are banging heads here so hopefully the end result is good ideas always make it to the masses and those that come up with new innovative designs can protect their intellectual property. We for one hope all three companies come to amiable agreement because all three companies have been very good for anglers thus far.
