Thread: Rossignol / Armada Patent Lawsuits

Just when everyone is grooving to the first reports of snowfall and sitting around the campfire dreaming about rockered powder skis in bottomless fluff, somebody has to go and toss an M-80 into the fire....

I am sure many people know all about this situation, but here are some links to documents.

Armada has sent cease and desist letters to a number of small and large ski companies claiming their models infringe upon Armada's patented geometry. One of those companies is Rossignol. Armada has poked a sharp stick into the 800 pound gorilla in the neighborhood and ...Well...Rossignol fired back their own counter-complaint against Armada claiming Armada's patent has no validity based on Rossignol's prior art. The sleeping players at this point are DPS and K2 which (in theory) may also have patent claims to certain designs.

The actual complaint by Rossignol against Armada can be found below (PDF):

ROSSIGNOL COMPLAINT AGAINST ARMADA (October 10, 2010 - Filed in UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH )

For those interested in the patents themselves, Links below (PDF):

ROSSIGNOL U.S. Patent 6,986,525 (January 17, 2006)

ARMADA U.S. Patent 7,690674 (April 6, 2010)

Of particular interest (in my opinion) is a Patent application by Drake Powderworks LLC. (DPS): (PDF)

DRAKE POWDERWORKS U.S. Patent Application 2008/0106068 (May 8, 2008) claiming priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/863,904 (Filed November 2, 2006)

Provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/863,904 is not available in the U.S. Patent Office database and must be ordered in hardcopy.

Essentially, Armada sent letters to several companies demanding they:

* cease sales of certain models believed to be covered by their patent,
* account for all sales of such models to potentially assess damages due to Armada

Armada stated to the companies they are willing to discuss amicable settlements to this matter.

This drama is not going away anytime soon, and my discussions wth several small builders indicates they are watching these developments with keen interest......never a dull moment...

not cool armada...

I doubt that either company would have ever "stumbled onto" rockered designs without Shane's innovation and passion. Now they bicker about who "owns" the idea over money. Makes me want to sell my JJ's...

Let me know how that works out for you... Lame since designs require being original. Water skis, Altai, surfboards, way to many things prior IMO.

considering that they pretty much ripped off the Scratch(s) for their first models that's kind of a lame move....

Add to the list another company I won't buy from.

greed is a sin...

I doubt this is going to have the desired outcome that armada wants.

So they claim they own the reverse sidecut and tapered tip and tail design? I love my ARG s but hey. Dont try to limit the ski evolution at our expense fuckers! Armada, lol.

I got my hands on a pair of ARG's to gaze at before they were released ('07IIRC). I also took delivery of my 05/06 dps 138's at that time. I bought them at their clearance/blem sale, so these had been out there for a few years at that point.

When I lined the 138's with the arg's, the arg were an exact copy with the tip and tails squared off. Cut, rocker line, everything else was the same, but consistently a few mm narrower throughout. I'm guessing they did this because 138's were a few mm to wide for jig's in those days.

The arg's were so obviously a copy. I seem to remember they were going to try and patent the those too.

Not good shizzle

I have never bought from Armada... originally it was because I could never understand how a ski company could be as passionate about the sport as me when they are located in costa mesa, 350 miles from the mountains....

now they have entered a whole new level of retarded.

Everyone please email info@armadaskis.com. Stop them from ruining the ski industry!

This is MORE pathetic than Scott skis filing against ON3P. It makes me happy I have the original, shane inspired, early rise, early taper, fat as hell skis... But of course they are not the most popular with the bro-bra crowd.

Originally Posted by ectreeskier11

not cool armada...

not smart armada.....

This is utterly ridiculous IMO. Hoping it backfires heavily.

Look for prices to go up from all companies involved so they can pay for their little pissing match.

Nothing good can come from a single company owning the sole legal right to produce rockered and/or tapered skis.

armada is this:

http://www.lolblog.co.uk/wp-content/...0/facepalm.jpg

will be fairly interesting to read the thread once the kids over at Newschoolers.com hear of this lawsuit.

never more on armada.
Not that I've used them before (bought some ARV for my kid years ago), but this is totally ridicolous.

Ski companies need to stop fucking trying to sue each other. It damages the industry as a whole. You can tell decisions like this come from the suits at the top who don't really have any passion about skiing and are just in it for the $$.

Plus, how can you patent a shape? Thats like Volant claiming to be the only company allowed to make reverse cambered or rockered skis since they did it first. Actually, everything armada tried to patent was a rip off from the spat anyway.

I'll add armada to the list of companies I won't buy from again.

Fuck Armada. I bought ARGs back in the day because they were an exact copy of the 138, I just couldn't afford the 138 and I wanted something a little smaller. How anyone but Shane can claim patents on this "technology" is ridiculous. I hope this backfires severely.

Just going on record that I'm done w/ Armada, and I'll encourage my friends and everybody else I influence to be done w/ Armada too. I've purchased and loved their skis in the past - and inspired several to buy their skis, but I won't any longer.

I know Rossi has been low in the popularity rankings around here lately (S6 debacle) but good on them for fighting back. The part I don't like is that they are now countersuing etc etc, but up until this point they've never tried to piss on the rest of the world developing similar shapes. Let's hope that they just shut Armada up and all the ski makers can go on developing some great ideas (where ever they came from)

p.s. and I invented the internet with Al Gore

it's funny i always thought armada did a good job "shadowing" other ski companies skis very well. armada started building skis with unique ideas/knowledge/ that established athletes and companies were already utilizing. props to armada for trying to win the race to patent a shape as their intellectual property. and good luck hurting the skis and brands you once copied, as those brands are the reason the shops you sell to exist. biting the hand that once fed you tastes well until it bitch slaps you back.

Nekbeard has spoken. What he said.

[Imagine being sponsored by Salomon, Armada, Oakley and Grenade Gloves. Do we hate any clothing labels as well?]