Rabbitlights.com may be getting shut down and/or sued...

[Jellybean]

Originally Posted by TasteTheAlex

taking an item and modifying it by at least 15% nulls the patent and the item is no longer supported by copywrite, you an modify anything and sell it as your own as long as you don't resell it under the same name as the item was originally purchased


and people always use I'm broke and medical bills as an excuse because we dont make enough money and medical bills are fuckin ridiculously high, I'm sorry if you can afford them, but i know most of us can't...

i guess changing the color isn't enough for them.


perhaps get a different job, or don't rack up the medical bills if they aren't absolutely needed? i have plenty of things "wrong" and "broken" on me, but i'd rather not be in debt for the rest of my life for something that isn't really effecting it too much.

if this guy really needed the money and shit, he should of looked more into his "profession" and checked the laws before he started to get screwed.

and if he's really bitter, tell the guy about the other sites.


my motto "knowledge is power" prevents you from getting fucked over alot of the time :]




whats with all the stupid emo whiny posts on rl today? "omgz i broke the law and now im in trouble WTF DID I DO WRONG GUYZ!?"

[PikaPika]

Originally Posted by Jellybean

whats with all the stupid emo whiny posts on rl today? "omgz i broke the law and now im in trouble WTF DID I DO WRONG GUYZ!?"

simple: some people dont have enough common sense.

[Jellybean]

Originally Posted by PikaPika

simple: some people dont have enough common sense.

Yeah I guess so.



I don't think "color changing" is improving it.. and I don't think this guy can even sell these lights because don't you need a patent or something to sell a product? So he might not just be breaking a copyright law.



A patent being an exclusionary right does not, however, necessarily give the owner of the patent the right to exploit the patent.[1] For example, many inventions are improvements of prior inventions which may still be covered by someone else's patent.[1] If an inventor takes an existing, patented mouse trap design, adds a new feature to make an improved mouse trap, and obtains a patent on the improvement, he or she can only legally build his or her improved mouse trap with permission from the patent holder of the original mouse trap, assuming the original patent is still in force. On the other hand, the owner of the improved mouse trap can exclude the original patent owner from using the improvement.





I should bring this up to somebody at my work and ask.. even though this isn't their field (they do debt collections) but i'm sure they'd help me with an answer!

[TheArsonist]

Originally Posted by Antranik

Who is the owner of rabbitlights?

A girl named Samantha. I dont believe she is on here, but her service fucken sucks. I was gonna buy some lights from her, but i'm glad I got out of that deal. Probably some pissed off customer dropped dime on her to the L.R.I. company and now she's FUCKED

[itjustis714]

well shit she's always came thru for me, 4 days max too and ive made 4 orders for supplies

[picchio]

your lucky... i know about this. i am a businessman and have dealt with this kind of thing before (i have settled a patent infringement lawsuit and am unfortunate enough to spend thousands $$ every month on attorneys for my business).

here is the deal. firstly, you are not liable for the patent infringement. the manufacturer is. any claims against you can be directly apportioned to the manufacturer of the lights, including any legal expenses.

secondly, this letter is coming from some guys secretary, so i wouldnt take it too seriously unless it comes from an attorney or a law firm directly. in order to mean anything, the sender of the letter must be able to confirm receipt of service or process. this CANNOT be done through email. they must send a letter via a legal courier, registered mail or express mail, and they must be able to PROVE that you have signed for it. thank god for spam filters... as far as im concerned you have never seen this letter, it went straight into your junkmail. DO NOT contact this person.

thirdly. the way a patent works is that the product must clearly violate at least one claim. damages can only be awarded for the claims that are violated. you can often (well in this case the manufacturer will have to) modify the product so that it does not violate the claim that is infringed and will owe damages only for money that is made off of that claim.

fourthly. i have no idea what product they are talking about from that email, but if its a design patent issue, they only have to barely change the design and it will no longer violate. also, if its a trademark issue (i.e. "brand name") you just have to use a different name.

fifthly. i would recommend IMMEDIATLY look for alternatives. find a different supplier and a different product because ultimately, unless the vendor alters their product, you will not be able sell it anymore. this isnt because you are liable, its because you will need to keep your business going when the supplier gets a letter from this guy and tells you he has to stop sending this product. you will be out of product.

i dont think its a big deal. dont stress too much. just start looking for a different product to sell from a different vendor. first the importer of record is liable and ultimately, the manufacturer is liable (probably some chinese company that really doesnt care, they will just make another product).

you are OK. good luck w/ surgery

[picchio]

did you even look up this patent filing: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

it has nothing to do with lights dude. it is a telephone device.

someone is jiving you big time!

HAHAHA

screw em. dont even sweat

[picchio]

oooops.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

turns out this guys company... is called "Rabbit Lights International" (L.R.I.)

Thats why he's after you. Looks like you stole his name after all.

So basically, actually this looks like its kind of your fault, even if by accident. the good news, he only owns the design patent, not the actual name "rabbit"

in effect you are selling a "rabbit light" which actually, does belong to this guy.

you either need to change your company name or change products asap.

i would recommend that you still ignore the letter if they cannot prove you received it. if they manage to get ahold of you, you can always "settle" with them later. they will ask how much gross sales you made of their lights, say $20K and then agree on a percentage of sales. a reasonable amount would be 10%-15%. So the "most" you could be liable is $2K-$3K.... not the end of the world... If you tell them you really didn't "mean" to infringe on them and you thought "rabbit" lights was just a cool name, they might even let you settle for 5% or less, as long as you agree to stop selling under that name. you might even want to ask how much you could buy the lights from them and become an authorized reseller. You never know, it might be a lot less than what you are paying to a middle man now?

i would immediatly change your company name though, and "dissapear" the old company

[Juno]

Ahahahahaha.

[fingerstylefunk]

This isn't copyright law, guys, it's patents. Photon lights are patent protected, and that allows them to shut down anyone who's making any product covered by the features of their patent without paying licensing fees on it.

This happens all the time. The case on whether it's infringing the patent could be fought, but odds are that these lights are Photon-ish enough that it might be legitimate. Then it's a matter of whether the claim is solid enough. I don't know for sure. If you're competing with something patented, though, this is the risk you take... you have to check the features that they're claiming and work around them.

If she's getting shut down for it, it's her own damn fault for not looking into the existing patents (which are public... that's how the system works)... or, from the sound of it, maybe not even knowing what a patent is to begin with. Too bad she has to learn the hard way.

[natefrogg]

you guys........i promise to not buy a photon.........for serial...

[ahtnamas04]

Hey. I know this is an old thread and I'm sorry to bump it. However there appear to be some misconceptions and I'd like to get those squared away.

First of all, hi. I am Rabbit, from Rabbitlights.com. Ahtnamas backwards = Samantha. You can call me that, too.

First of all: this is crossposted (mentioned, I know) from GenXGlow. I don't post here very often so I didn't see it. That being said--

I have ONE item I sell which is modified. It is an unpatented LED glowstick. I mod it into a microlight.

That is the only item I sell modified in ANY fashion, beyond Flowbits, which I say are obviously made of Flowlights.

The microlights I sell are in no way portrayed as Photons. I never call them photons. I never have and I correct people. You know how you can get Advil, and you can get Ibuprofen? I sell Ibuprofen. I don't market it as advil. Does it do the same thing? Sort of. They are similar to Photons, but are very different in their functionality as well as their design/implementation. They're LED keychain lights. They aren't photons and have nothing to do with Photon at all.

You see the little disclaimer underneath *all* my items that say "These are not Photons"? That's WHY.

Now, the part I found ironic here is this. I never know LRI stood for Laughing Rabbit Inc. I never had a clue. I knew LRI made photons; I didn't know that LRI stood for anything. I never thought to inquire.

My raver name is Rabbit. My chinese zodiac is rabbit. Hence rabbitlights.com. I was in NO WAY trying to make 'fake photons'. I found a relatively decent provider and saw Orbitlightshow.com selling the same thing for a lot of money, and decided that would make a better part-time college job than PetSmart. My bad. A name? Well, I'm rabbit.... so rabbit lights sounds good. Well, I guess not!

To the guy saying I have terrible service, how so? I am honestly curious. I have low prices, free shipping, it's usually fast, and while I hate answering the phone, I usually respond to emails pretty quickly. I throw in free things and make sure every customer is happy. So I'd like to know what I am doing wrong, in your opinion.

Lastly, I'd just like to update this. I found legal council and I have been in talks with LRI. I am under the impression that nothing I am doing is wrong because I do not sell photons, although I'd be willing to if that would appease them.

Liquidemotions.com and orbitlightshow.com sell the same shit I do and have been doing so for a long time and they actually make money, so I don't see why I'm being singled out in this situation. I'm an ultra small operation. I was looking to make some spare change to help pay rent and bills while I get my degree. I never knew I was doing anything wrong. I saw other people selling the same thing, I assumed given the change in switch vs pushbutton, that they were different enough to be sellable. orbitlightshow and liquidemotions have been doing the same thing for literally years. I understand that they are allowed by LRI to sell the same thing I do as long as they say they aren't Photons, which I do. So, what set them off, my name? I don't know. Honestly, I'm not trying to do anything wrong here, I'm one person trying to get through school. I'm not selling fake purses, so to speak. Just cheap purses. Without fake logos. So I don't see the problem, nor does my council. If any of you know better (I'm not being sarcastic), please enlighten me. But if I'm doing something wrong, the rest of them are too, and they're the big operations.

I don't think LRI is doing anything wrong in making sure I don't infringe on their product and honestly don't harbor any resentment, I just want to know "why me?". I'm not a threat to them and never will be. What I make is almost not worth bothering doing it. I just thought it would be an adventure and a learning experience.

Anyway, I've been honest and open with LRI about this so far and I'm doing the same with all of you. I'd appreciate any feedback you'd be willing to offer me. Thanks.

Samantha

Sorry again for bumping this.

One last edit: Please don't spread false information. I don't modify anything and resell it. I don't try to falsify ANYTHING. I had a friend who had google adwords credit, and he put "cheap photon" in the ad WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE. I yelled at him, he took it down, and literally a day later I got this letter.

And please don't say I'm using medical bills as an excuse or to garner pity. I post on GXG more as a member (e.g. a real person) than a business owner, and when I made that post I was scared shitless. I was assaulted a year ago and have had multiple surgeries as a result, and I owe a pretty generous amount of money in medical bills. We don't exactly have a very good system for healthcare in this country. I'm not using this as a tool, I'm simply saying please do not speak about things when you don't know about a situation. Thank you.