Armada tell Rossignol to cease and desist.

Wow... very glad I jumped on a pair of Rossi S5s before I gave $500 of my hard-earned dollars to Armada for a pair of Halos.
 
thats ridiculous so they want to take money from other companies in the ski community for charity? everyone knows Rossi has had financial troubles so what's Armada really trying to do cripple them?

I think its ironic that a "core" brand that always tell us to support the small ski industry would try to file these claims against some of the founders of the sport of skiing like Rossi and K2 and more ironic that they filed claims against Rossi (whose Scratch design was straight copied for Armada's first park ski).

It makes me sick. Somewhere Shane is turning over in his grave.
 
my thoughts exactly. The PDF's for the patents are VERY thorough and VERY specific on the dimensions.

anyway, I don't really care so, whatever.
 
I am torn on this one. I could argue both points pretty effectively, I think. From a business standpoint I could even argue both sides. In every other industry people do this - they create a product and can be the only ones to sell it for 4 years - that is the reward for originality. Take for example the walkie-talkie feature on cell phones. I believe it was Nokia who first had the patent on itm, and no other phone company could offer it for 4 years. It makes sense - they went to all the work in the R&D department and developed a technology. Now, many have pointed out that there were many companies previous to Armada who actually invented the concept. I guess Armada is trying to protect their exact specifications more than the idea? If that is true, it is a totally valid case.

However, my gut tells me this is yucky. I have always enjoyed Armada skis and have been a regular customer. That may change pending the exact details of this case. Still not sure what to think until I wrap my mind around it better.
 
you are quite possibly the most retarded person on this site

and

screw armada!!! if armada wins they're gonna lose more money in the long run than they will gain by suing rossignol. if they put enough companys' underground because of this, the entire industry will die. and armada will go out of business too. i will never buy a armada, scott or wme product ever again.
 
I think I remember reading somewhere that Line holds the rights to "true twin tip" skis. So who knows, it might go the other way around.
The JJ and the S7 although competing for market share no doubt, don't seem similar enough to me to actually call one a rip off of the other. When it comes down to it the S7 was around first and has earlier patents, Armadas lawyers must have known this, so what are they really trying to do here?
I hope as this plays out we get more details, I know nothing about law, and less about patent law. Any law students/lawyers or even anyone out there with a lawyer mom/dad who is willing to give this a read and give us some insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
garglegarglegargle.

Who cares? Even if they're specific, it's a huge dick move. Armada needs to get it out of their head that they are still a "core" company. "Core" companies should care for the companies that started the sport.
 
I would understand if the patent was for an EXACT measurement, not just anything that comes generally close. If it is then please disregard this. Otherwise this is really pathetic for Armada. I will never buy anything Armada again in my life. I think its completely and utterly disgusting that a ski company would sue another company just for something like that.
 
I read the patent. The abstract is summed up as "A ski in accordance with the invention increases in width from a tip or shovel portion to a mid-portion. The mid-portion includes at least a slight sidecut. The ski then decreases in width from the mid-portion to a tail portion. The ski also includes an undersurface with a substantial portion being rockered. A substantial portion of the mid-portion of the ski is not rockered."

It goes on to talk about percentages (large differences, like between 25%-35% of the ski to have the sidecut/slight camber) and talk about dimensions (135mm, 133mm, 134mm, and 120mm are all mentioned, in a 185cm long "snow riding device"). Basically they were trying to patent their ARG from a couple years back, despite DPS having introduced the Lotus 138 two seasons prior and submitting a patent at that time. The predecessor to DPS, DB skis also have a similar ski called the Tabula Rasa, which they may or may not have submitted a patent for.

After reading the patent I am further convinced that this whole thing is utter bullshit. Fuck Armada.
 
This is a messed up move by Armada. They are just going to alienate their loyal customers (i.e. people who follow the ski industry {everyone on newschoolers}). I am not going to buy any more Armada stuff, there are tons of good skis out there to buy. If they win the suit (I hope they don't), the short term monetary gains won't be worth the long term effects this case will have on their corporate image. The ski community is so tightly woven that bad press can kill a company (I don't think this will happen to a company as big as Armada, but I hope enough people boycott them so they get the message through a loss of profits). I hope you all take a look at the mindset of Armada, as shown by this lawsuit, as an insult to skiers and the rest of the ski industry.
 
Was just thinking about this clusterfuck again.

So is Atomic next on the list for Armada to sue? The Bentchetler is very similar to the JJ. What about the Salomon's Rocker2? Aside from it's (likely) cap construction, it is almost idential to the Bentchetler and similar to the JJ. Amer sports has ridiculously deep pockets, is Armada going to pick and choose who they sue? Will they not touch Amer because Atomic physically presses Armada's skis? Wouldn't that be a fun way to play hardball. I'd love to see Atomic tell Armada to go fuck themselves and find a new factory for their skis to be made.

 
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I wonder if this will end up causing any animosity among the pros who names are attached to the skis. Armada going got the Bentchetler would be pretty ironic considering Chris and JP have been known to ski together.
 
well this sucks...i just got thalls then read this thread. hate to see this happen to the industry
 
I saw some rossis in the ski shop near here and my first words were "wow those looks like armadas." Still not a cool thing to do. I could see how Armada believes that have something totally unique and that by not taking action against rossi they would jeopardize their sales of that model, JJs right? This has a bit more premise behind it than the scott and on3p thing though.
 
I can't believe that we're having another instance of lawsuits/cease and desists in the ski industry. It makes me sick.
 
Dear Armada, you are one of my favourite companies in the industry, and I directly associate you to my introduction to freeskiing. The first ever core company I saw and recognized at a mountain was a pair of arvs, the ones with the cool bird things. Regardless, I, along with a very large number of the contributors on Newschoolers.com are appalled and disgusted by your actions against Rossignol. Have you not learned from the freeskiing community's reaction to Scott's suit against ON3P? I writing this to inform you that until you decide to show class and character, I, along with many other members of the freeski community will be boycotting your products. I truly wish this did not need to be done but I feel it is the only way to make you realize that this can only hurt the industry and sport that I love so much.Thank you, Will Cameron.
The Newschooler's thread discussing your action.https://newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/573010/
left this note on their facebook wall/
 
good response, I cant believe a company that claims theyre "committed" to freesking would do this to a struggling company.
 
I posted some stuff on Armada's wall, not exactly bashing them because the full story isn't out yet (or at least I don't know all the details), but letting them know what the deal is with how people feel on NS and TGR.
On another note, why do some people on TGR feel the need to boycott both Salomon and Oakley? What happened with them before?
 
I would say the most ironic part about all of this is if we were to hop in the rewind machine um... say 7 years ago when the birthing ski-section of Armada came to be. I supported Armada so much because i loved what they stood for. Their tag line was "what skiing will become" but if this is it...then that kind of bums me out. I can remember reading interview after interview (in a magazine called Freeze R.I.P for those of you who missed it) from the first 5 pros (Tanner, JP, JF, Boyd, Julien) and 1 am (Anthony) that their company was rider based and operated and how they did not like what major companies (Rossignol and Salomon) directions were headed. In the words of a Dr. "but sometimes the business end of this shit can turn your friends against you."
 
Some interesting FACTS:
http://homeboyski.com/2009/04/01/a-tribute-to-shane-mcconkey-the-story-of-rocker-skis/

First rockered production skis: Volant

First early taper production ski: Volant

Companies that did it before Armada: Volant, Line, DPS, others?

Companies that specifically used the 5 point sidecut and early rise mentioned in the Armada patent before Armada: Line, and DPS.

Timeline:

Volant Spatulas - 2001

DPS Lotus - 2005

Armada patent date - August 2006

Line EP - 2007/2008

Armada ARG - 2007/2008

Armada JJ with rocker and early taper - 2008/2009

Armada just jumped into the "do not buy from us because we are douches" barrel... Hope Scott gets along with the new roommate!
 
Yeah, too bad Rossignol has the best bindings on the market, and DAMN good skis.

BTW: Poles are just metal tubes (or composite, carbon, bamboo, etc), not much difference between brands there.

P.S. Your an idiot...

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu131/KevlarPaperclip/double-facepalm.jpg
 
oops...

double-facepalm.jpg
 
rossignol is the oldest ski company in the industry. they make great skis, and horrible marketing decisions. at this rate, they arent going to last long, in the north american market at least, which i desperately want not to happen. armada, dick move.
 
let me get this strait, Armada is ordering Rossignol to stop importing/or making skis that have the same 'patented' technology as theirs?thats gay.
 
To you and the guy you quoted saying "hold off judgment until you get your facts straight." Could you clarify what you mean? Right now you seem to be not exactly understanding the facts provided.
 
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