Kite Scoop Forum

I just heard a rumour that Best Kiteboarding have threatened to take legal action against Gin Kiteboarding because Gin have launched a kite called the Guru and Best apparently had some quickly forgotten about kite called a Gooroo(???) years ago. Gin now have to recall all their kites and stick a patch over the "G"

WTF??? Is this true???

If this is true then Best have just dropped off the scale of respect in my opinion. WTF are you doing??? As if Gin kiteboarding calling a kite a Guru is going to have the slightest effect on your sales. The only motive for taking action like this is to wield your legal might around to cause trouble for another brand.

You showed the kite industry you were serious players with decent kites at great value prices so why are you now having to resort to sad legal threats?

Grow your balls back and compete on product quality, value and performance. This is not the industry for being legal bullies! Go play in Wall Street if you want to play that game.

Can anyone confirm if this rumour is true? (If its not then apologies to Best, but if it is then you suck and have just turned into corporate 455H0L35 not a ktie company.

I can't actually believe it... I respected Best as being a decent brand not having to compete by resorting to legal bullshit.

I dont have any personal experience with the dudes who run shop over there but Best has been known to work a slightly shady way ever since they got started. All companies do some shady shit every once in a while i think tho...

@Skyte are you REALLY that concerned over the name of a kite from a kite company that I'm guessing no one on the scoop would ever ride?!? Sounds like your trolling for something... are you affiliated with Gin?

I work for BEST and I haven't heard shit about this name thing internally (but I focus on my job and they've got lawyers for that shit). That said, why do you think we changed the name of our 2011 kite from the Taboo to the "TS" in 2012?!? Because there was a windsurfing company already out there with a similar name, but spelled differently. Our bad, we changed the name.

http://www.tabou-boards.com/

No one should get pissed at this windsurfing company... we were in the wrong. If what you say is true, I would extend the same logic to Gin. That said, it was only a little over a year ago this shit went down between LF, Slingshot, and Ronix... it ended with each brand circle jerking the other for patent rights:

http://kitescoop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7514

http://www.thekiteboarder.com/2011/03/slingshot-sports-and-liquid-force-exchange-intellectual-property-rights/

North has the 5th line patent, Naish the push away safety system, Liquid Force has baseless boots, BEST has the reflex LE on the new C-kite, Slingshot has One-Pump... each year they all pay each other to compete... that's the name of the game with IP (intellectual property).

You said, "This is not the industry for being legal bullies! Go play in Wall Street if you want to play that game"... go tell that to any of the other brands that BEST has to pay each year for patents... go tell that to all the retailers who have tirelessly worked to create and build their own brands (REAL, TKS MIami, etc). You work hard to make something cool and you don't want some douche bag coming in and copying all your shit and trying to say its the same... it's not!

OK, I'm done with my libertarian/objectivism "Ayn Rand style" rant... much love. I hate the bullshit politics as much as you do Skyte

yeah it just surprised me... its a bit of a twatty thing to do and totally unnecessary.

Sort of like... "we're gonna fuck you, just because we can"

They are totally entitled to do so, I have no argument with that, but there's just no need! If Gin had launched the Waru then fair enough, but I don't think anyone on the kitesurf planet would have thought "oh, Guru sounds a bit like some kite best launched for a year once"