[Rhodes22-list] Advice Needed From Litigious Rhodies

Sat Nov 7 11:32:32 EST 2009

we do not stock them anymore since they now sell direct - our only value to 
a buyer as a sales source is if the buyer wanted any upgrades incorporated.

ss

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Schiller" <jjschiller at yahoo.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 10:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Advice Needed From Litigious Rhodies

> Stan, are you still affiliated with the Seward 26?
>
> JS
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com>
> To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
> Sent: Fri, November 6, 2009 5:48:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Advice Needed From Litigious Rhodies
>
> The O'Day molds went to China or Korea or one of those country's.  Really.
>
> Rummy
>
>
> In a message dated 11/6/2009 2:13:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> dculp at hsbtx.com writes:
>
> Stan:
>
> I think you would be better off to use a boat that is  out of production 
> and
> the company no longer in business.  That way,  only the owner of the 
> design
> who probably has the molds (if there are any)  might be interested in 
> suing
> you.  In fact, if the molds are  nonexistent, I think that would be even
> better.   In any case,  they will be poorly organized, not very interested
> and the success of  litigation against you would probably be very low. 
> You
> would be  merely adding to an existing boat that is not being built  any
> longer.
>
> On the other hand and playing the devil's advocate, if I  am Catalina: 
> You
> are taking my design on a boat still in production  and tearing it down,
> rebuilding and then marketing it to the public as a  "Catalina".  You are
> trading on my reputation, infringing my trademark  and adding confusion in
> the eyes of the consumer.  You may also  infringe on my patents
> inadvertently
> in the process of making the  improvements you propose.  Even if I can't 
> win
> on those arguments-the  Rhodes 22 is a better 22' boat then we build, but 
> we
> have deeper pockets;  and wouldn't we like to put GBI out of business on
> legal issues instead of  having to compete?  Others have talked about
> success
> stories with  Shelby, Ram converted Cessnas, etc. and close to home-Dee
> Howard  modifications to Learjets were world renown.  I think the
> difference
> is that these folks sold an after-market conversion to private  owners but
> were not a direct competitor in the business.  In other  words, they 
> didn't
> have a factory capable of producing new cars or new  airplanes and if 
> memory
> serves, even though they added value and charged  for it, they didn't 
> market
> the finished products.  I think if Ford  said we will take a Chevy make it
> better and then re-market it, there would  be some problems.  I think a 
> big
> company would rather try and squash  the little guy then overlook or 
> condone
> them building a better mouse trap  with their product and then marketing
> it-especially in this  environment.  In their mind, every recycled 
> Catalina
> you sold, is a  customer who didn't buy a boat from them though I think 
> that
> is an apples  and oranges comparison.... Still, it looks good in a 
> pleading.
>
> I am on  marriage #3 which proves that I'm not a very good businessman but
> very well  acquainted with lawyers, so I just don't see the return on
> investment/risk  on a project like this.  Wouldn't you be better off in
> trying to  become the best sailboat repair and modification shop on the 
> east
> coast  using the assets that you already have?   Customer supplied boats
> that
> you merely repair or modify and are not resold; like Dee Howard did  for
> aircraft all those years in San Antonio.  Obviously the margins  are not
> near
> as good, but less risk and steady work might keep things going  until the
> tide rolls back in.
>
> I am not a lawyer and don't play one  on TV.
>
> Regards,
> David
>
>
>
>
> Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009  13:16:59 -0500
> From: "stan" <stan at rhodes22.com>
> Subject:  [Rhodes22-list] advice needed from litigious Rhodies
> To: "The Rhodes 22  mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Message-ID:  <3E593F37DE3A427AB2EC4E7907A5120A at rhodes>
> Content-Type:  text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> last time  things got bad, to broaden our price marking base  we went 
> into
> recycling Rhodes
>
> this time, to broaden our base and not keep  losing those prospects who 
> want
> a little bit bigger boat (since no Rhodes  took us up on the Rhodes 27
> projected) we bought a Catalina 25 and have  torn it apart.   we are going
> to
> try and make it into a  Catalina-Rhodes hybrid:   IMF, combo keel/cb,
> electric tilting  motor lift, etc.
>
> it is being sold as a used Catalina 25 that we have  recycled and 
> upgraded.
> Can Frank butler (he owns Catalina) legally  complain?
>
> ss
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