I just thought of another more sinister possibility. What if Microtrains is actually considering to ship their production overseas and is allowing IMRC and it's partners to test out a foreign clone MT has developed??? Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
I think the manufacturers are pocketing the difference or it is keeping the prices from escalating too quickly.
Kinda up in the air on the 'deception' part...but leaning more towards it is. If I as a consumer was used to looking at a certain manufactures goods and knew they always used MT's...and that was a buying point for the me. But I found out later that those couplers I swore where MT's where really NOT MT's but cheap knock offs...and I wasnt informed so...I would be ticked off !!! Should a manufacture fully disclose if they change a coupler design or manufactuer...YES !! But as my wife always says....A Gucci handbag is still just a purse in the end ;-)
Buying a Cucci handbag at a Gucci price might make most women mad too. Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
George, I think the issue is pre-ordering the cars from a manufacturer that had a long history of using Micro-Trains couplers, when there was no clear mention of non-Micro Trains coupler in the announcement. Then when they arrive, there is the surprise of the Chinese clones. This is where the deception occurs with the old "Bait and Switch".
I'm going to run with my sinister conspiracy theory. If these clones are so similar to the MT coupler... one would expect to have heard about a patent infringement lawsuit by now. These clones even have the slinky effect which... lol... is probably patented too!! Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
Patents expire, and they are not enforceable outside the country. There are many countries that have reciprocal patent agreements, China is not one of them.
I would say that the cost of the couplers can't be that significant... many of us would pay a slight premium to get USA branded products with actual MT couplers. Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
How could we have allowed our country to fall into such a situation... where our technical or intellectual property can be easily cloned by foreign governments without any repercussions. We are not the country we used to be. Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
Patents have a 17 year life span. Depending on the filing dates, there may be some MT couplers that could be freely cloned here.
Patents can be extended and I doubt MT would allow any of theirs to expire and become public domain. There are probably some minute differences in the design which allows near duplication. Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
This is where I agree David. If a manufacturer always used MT's...and then started switching them out with clones...and DIDNT tell the consumers. That's WRONG !!
I think that is the sentiment most of us feel regarding this topic... the lack of notification Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
