I'll save the rant but will start on a positive:
My raspberry Pi Power supplies are flying off the shelf on eBay, which is great!
A few weeks ago, an eBay member by the name of
approched me on eBay threatening legal action against my products, after infringing on a presumably bogus patent. They had zero feedback and was clearly made, just to contact me online. Its not the first time someone within my office (I have a full time J.O.B.) has tried winding me up on things I sell.
So I ignored them.
A week or so later, the same person emailed my careline (for my customers) with the following:
This came from a free outlook account under the name
... not exactly the most imaginative name in the world, but almost plausible. Rather than ignore them again with the offchance he's actually being serious, I took a calculated step and responded:
No response.
Now, its been conveniently pointed out to my by a colleague that this chap is now selling cables with an IDENTICAL switch supposedly built into it. Check it out and look at the photo-quality
. It screams "Poor Photoshopped Product"! But has sales and feedback.
Either is is an overly elaborate joke thats going too far, or some guy genuinely is trying to get a patent for a lamp switch and is trying to punch above his weight in the arena with legal threats.
I really hope it is the former...
My raspberry Pi Power supplies are flying off the shelf on eBay, which is great!
A few weeks ago, an eBay member by the name of
Code:
pi-switchSo I ignored them.
A week or so later, the same person emailed my careline (for my customers) with the following:
Code:
Your item : THE ULTIMATE PI - UK Raspberry Pi Power Supply With Built In ON/OFF Switch!infringes on patent number: 1218804.1 which we own and not you. We have contacted you via ebay to remove your item but you have ignored us. We can either take legal action against or come to a financial arrangement i.e. royalties per item sold.Please respond to this email otherwise we will initiate legal proceedings; if this is the route that you wish to take then can you please supply an address for our solictors to contact you by.
Regards
PI-switchThis came from a free outlook account under the name
Code:
Neil Dave
Code:
Dear Neil,
There is no patent with that number in the available IP records online.
If you can provide your specific patent details and define the IP we are
infringing, we will further contact you about price / stock negotiation.
We will continue trading until your patent details have been received.
Kind regards,
DerekNo response.
Now, its been conveniently pointed out to my by a colleague that this chap is now selling cables with an IDENTICAL switch supposedly built into it. Check it out and look at the photo-quality
Code:
[URL="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raspberry-PI-Power-Switch-/170957891523?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item27cde267c3"]Raspberry PI Power Switch | eBay[/URL]Either is is an overly elaborate joke thats going too far, or some guy genuinely is trying to get a patent for a lamp switch and is trying to punch above his weight in the arena with legal threats.
I really hope it is the former...
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