Defendant argues for a verbal construction but plaintiff contends that illustrations will suffice. “To be back with Hyper is a great opportunity that I’m very excited about to, say the least,”said E.C.. “To be handed the keys to the castle with the task of building a high end line of mountain hyper bicycles bikes for the Hyper brand is both a big responsibility and honor. I will still be on the bike at all scheduled events but my role will be more directed toward educating riders about our products and growing the brand at a grass roots level, rather than focusing solely on results”.
On October 20, 2021, the Court held a Markman hearing with respect to the claim construction to be applied to the design patents. The ‘842 and ’642 patents are both design patents which pertain to bicycles and, in particular, the ornamental design of two bicycles. The patents claim the design shown in their respective figures one through seven.
Although cosmetically things will change, a lot of the underpinnings of the motorbike will either be the same, similar, or have seen a steady refinement over the years. Designing, testing, and refining these new products takes a considerable amount of research and development, which all costs money. The Court adopts this construction without prejudice to its ultimate jury instruction on functional versus ornamental elements or any other related factors.
The question in this case, therefore, is primarily the “level of detail” to be used in describing the claimed design, i.e. whether the Court should advert to the illustrations in the design patent or undertake an element-by-element description thereof. Resting on Reddy and DePaoli, plaintiff requests that the Court reject defendant’s proposed construction and reserve any issues of functionality for a later time. Lu brings suit for two counts of patent infringement of United States patents numbers US D529,842 S (“the ’842 patent”) and US D556,642 S (“the ’642 patent”), each of which relates to the ornamental design of a bicycle. Plaintiff seeks judgment that has infringed the two patents in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271, damages to compensate plaintiff for the infringement, trebled under 35 U.S.C. § 284 due to the willfulness of the alleged infringement and attorney’s fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285. “Park Tool has been manufacturing bicycle specific tools since 1963. Based out of St. Paul Minnesota, we are the world’s largest bicycle tool manufacturer. A long-term dedication to quality, innovation, and customer service has made Park Tool the first choice of professional and home bicycle mechanics around the world.” Feel the racing passion of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cups with the new Barzo and Mezcal UCI-licensed editions, the new tire options dedicated to all sports & leisure cross-country mountain bikers.
Genuine profit margins for any industry can be hard to come by. Most industries like to keep this a closely guarded secret for obvious reasons. We have managed hyper mountain bike to get some general statistics on both the motorbike and cycling industries to compare just how much of the total sale price of the bikes is profit.