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History of the Legaignoux Kitesurfing Patent - 2006/07/27 17:47
History of the Legaignoux Kitesurfing Patent.
Article resubmitted by Poster;
26 Dec 2001
Hi,
I'm Bruno Legaignoux. For those which don't know my name, we are, with my brother Dominique the inventors of the inflated kite in the shape of a gore.
My brother and I were sailors (french Junior champions, cruising boat skippers, sailing instructors, surfers, windsurfers, etc...). We tried to develop very efficient sails and boats and finally we became interested in kites when seeing Jacob's Ladder, a catamaran pulled by Flexifoils, although we never flew a dual line kite. It was in 1984.
After a few researches, we understood that no water relaunchable kite existed so it became obvious to us that we had to create one. You can see an old photo at the top of this page.
After one year of work, we were sailing with water skis and demonstrating the device during the 1985 Brest International Speed Week. We also applied for a patent. The project was to find one or several licensees within 2 years but windsurfing was at its acme and no windsurf company was interested.
We never stopped believing in this sport so we had 10 years of VERY HARD time, continuing the project without money, looking for new markets, for licensees, then creating our own company and producing in France in 1993-94... at a too high cost (please don't cry !)
Then Windsurfing declined and Kiteboarding time came. I am proud to see that we were the main actors of kiteboarding birth but for sure we were not alone. For example Cory Roeseler with the Kiteski device or Andreas Kuhn with a paraglider and a kind of wakeboard helped too with international media exposure.
In 1995-96 we went in very serious talks with Neil Pryde. Finally they renunced but they accepted to produce small quantities for us and we started selling these kites in July 1997 under Wipika brand mark. Then we found another manufacturer in Asia.
In 1998, Don Montague and Robby Naish came to us asking for a license. As it was our original goal, we agreed and told them that both of us needed a software to be able to make new designs quickly. I came to Hawaii and gave all my knowledge to Don Montague and their programer. One year later, the program was working. We shared it. With it, everybody can make a new good kite in 30 seconds, just changing one parameter. For example, change AR = 2.5 (the default value) with 8 and you will appear as a genious designer!
WHY PATENT PROTECTION ? Some people hate this way. I think that when you are a well organized company in a market where products evolve very quickly, patent is just a waste of money and energy. But if you are a "small" independant inventor, you have no chance against large companies if you don't protect your ideas : they won't even give you just credit for that !
Our motivation was kept during the hard years because of the patent.
INFRINGERS Seen by my side, there are only 3 kinds of kites : - the ones which are far from ours, like ram air kites, delta kites, etc... - the ones which are very close to ours : if they got a license contract like Naish, they are licensees; if not, they are infringing copies whether or not there are patented improvements on. - there are kites designed with a sole goal: to use our concept but escaping the patent by modifying the kite after studying the patent and looking for weak points in it. In this case it is more difficult for me to get the justice admiting the infringement but I'll try each time I think I can win.
Obviously, I beat the infringers and already stopped a few ones. Something interesting to be known is that I have no obligation starting legal action immediatly, that means that I can start even when they will have invested a lot of energy and money in their product. This is to explain that it is probably more risky for them to infringe that what they generally think.
NEW LICENSEES SOON ? Yes, we are open to give other licenses but to companies which are able to bring something to the market, not to companies with short term view or which sole way to get market shares is to discount their kites.
In 2000-2001 a few high image companies will enter the market.
WHO INVENTED ? - who invented kiteboarding ? several people did it on their side without knowing that other people previously made something close.
Ourselves we started in 1984 with windsurf boards because we were surfers and windsurfers but not waterskiers. We built several boards for that purpose. As our kites were very unstable at that time, we mainly used waterskis because the waterstart was easier, but the patent talks about windsurfing board type too.
We also tested any kind of boats and many other "things" that you can't even imagine and a patent drawing shows a guy on two 40cm "water skates" (photos in the History page of www.wipika.com). We made and sailed them. It was fun. I 'm sure that we'll soon see advanced pilots trying this kind of skates.
- who "invented" high AR inflated kite ? In 1985 we made a 17m kite with aspect ratio 6 and with 100% double-skin. With it, we waterskied with 6 to 12 knots of wind and, during the 1886 International Brest Speed Week, we were clocked at 14.5 knots (average speed during a 500m run) while the best world class windsurfers reached 10 knots. This is registered.
We also made kites with 20%, 30%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100% double skin, what was already described in the 1984 patent, and kites made of clear mylar with scrim. Probably you will see this kind of "improvement" in the next months or years.
- who "invented" inflated "struts" without inner tube ? a competitor ? No, in the past, we used 2 different construction methods for inflated struts : airtight fabric and mylar fabric with inner tube. These ways are described in the original patent.
Who invented 4 line straight bar with both front lines meeting at a "main line" going to the harness and with the bar sliding along the "main line" ? a competitor ? No, we own a patent on this device since 1995. I first used this device for buggying and won some races thanks to it. Seasmik uses without any license the exact device we described so we'll have to sue them.
- who invented 4 line inflated kite ? A competitor ? No, the above patent also describes how to settle inflated kites with 4 lines by cutting the edges for example (there are other ways). I always used "cut tip" kites with the 4 line straight bar.
I explained all these things to Don Montague in 1998.
Why didn't we apply these improvements earlier ? There are 2 main reasons : Firstly, when you settle a company and you have no money, especially in France, you have to work 80 hours a week to have it working properly. So I had no time for R&D. It's why in 1999 I looked for people to take care of Wipika and get myself more time in R&D. I also moved in early 2000 to Dominican Republic which is really a perfect place for R&D. Secondly, the market was not ready for more evolved kites.
In the "early ages", we made very efficient kites then we understood that we had to make simple, stable and safe. In 1998, 100% of the users were beginners - there are not so many markets like this one ! In 1999, still 90% were beginners but the 10 other percents were starting to ask for more efficient kites so we prepared the Free Air AR3.3 range and started sales in early 2000. But because of Naish AR5 our new range is already old fashioned if you believe a few ones.
My main concern is safety and when I hear that some beginners directly purchase AR5 kites, I'm scared. Firstly they are more difficult to relaunch but above all they are fast. That makes them dangerous for beginners in the state of the market (almost no schools nor well informed retailers...).
We are starting a competition to efficiency, just like windsurfing manufacturers did. Remember : "Hey guy, how many cambers do you have ? Only six ? ... and your board, what size ? 2.26m ? Too bad! mine is 2,195m !". Windsurfing is dying for this reason. And us, when ?
A fact : the Wipika riders Franz Olry and Christopher Tasti, which actually win some events, don't want to use too high AR kites because they are so fast and unstable that they can't make the kind of tricks they do with more stable kites. They don't want a 20 kite quiver. They want simplicity. Same for Lou Wainman, Mauricio Abreu and some other ones.
If you see them using high AR kites, it's because competition pushes in this way, not because they prefer (except in light winds).
To resume, if we go too quickly, we'll burn our wings. All the people involved in kiteboarding should take care with that.
R&D AGREEMENT WITH NAISH ? Any kind of commercial/strategical agreement was never made. Both companies are completely independant/free of mutual contract. Both are Legaignoux licensees with same contract terms.
4 LINE KITES Wipika supplies the Classic kites since July 1997 with an additional webbing so that all the Classic can be settled with 4 lines. That means that we believe to the 4 line use since a long while but 99% of the customers didn't want to hear about it last year.
Very soon, the Classic kites will be sold with a second webbing, like the Free Air, to simplify transformation. Classic and Free Air will also receive long velcros to fold the tips.
Many new Wipika items will be available in the next weeks and months, including an interesting 4 line bar. We'll keep you informed.
You are welcome to use abstracts of this message for public use as long as it is in good faith.
Thank you for your time and... Best winds to all of you,
Bruno
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