Reported on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News on Tuesday, Electra is seeking damages against Trek for what they feel is a violation of their recently awarded patent. The Flat Foot Technology was a staple, and main selling point, of Electra bikes for several years while the patent was pending. With many imitators around the industry, it was only a matter of time before Electra began to protect their proprietary technology.
You can’t patent “long chainstays and slack seat angles” for their own sake. However, if you show a previously unknown, unobvious (and no, hindsight does *not* count), useful application of them, you have a chance.
Most inventions out there involve using well-known materials and technologies in novel ways.
It’s mirrored…
Realistically, Trek knew what they were doing when they used a pending patent in the bikes. They will probably end up paying Electra an undisclosed settlement, and pay Electra for future use of the patent. That payment is something they figured they would have to make day they made those cruisers in the first place, and is probably why the sources at Trek aren’t concerned about current stocks.
