The truth about Jebao pumps

I thought tunnel was in Germany.

 

I thought tunnel was in Germany.

 

This is good information Craig because people are buying these up & hate to see them dissapointed later...

 

I can not find any cease and desist order filed in any state.

 

Tunze sent a cease and desist letter to us vendors threatening to pull products from those vendors, but there is no cease and desist order on file anywhere with legal standing.

 

Because they are like another pump. Really so Sears can't sell a lawn mower because it looks like a John deer. Sorry I think its a load of crap and to me it sounds greedy.
Thanks craig for passing along the info. I have a wp40 and hope it last longer then 12 months, but I took the chance and have not been disappointed yet. Will see
Kp
Sent via App 2

 

I wasn't saying anything about your vendors, I was simply stating that there is no legal cease and desisit, just one from Tunze claiming a patent infringement. If there was a legal cease and desist order it would be filed with a courthouse, and there would be legal enforcement. This is a truth about jebao thread, thought it should be mentioned...

 

Motto argue the point that they are a ripoff and inferior. That I agree with also like made in USA. But I see at least to retailers in the USA selling them, reef breeders and fish street. Just an obersvation.

 

Motto argue the point that they are a ripoff and inferior. That I agree with also like made in USA. But I see at least to retailers in the USA selling them, reef breeders and fish street. Just an obersvation.

 

I mean no insult Craig. I do like us vendors, and believe in us products, it is just so hard to justify paying Tunze prices when we have a pump that does the job for less than half.

 

Damn spell check!
- now Free

 

And Amazon.

 

Murray Camp represents Tunze, in as much as he was responsible for some of the cease and desist letters. So I am not sure if he has been putting bees in the bonnet lately or whatever euphenism I should use instead of "stirring ****". As a fellow attorney who has in the past represented small and larger businesses bullied by "patent/trademark trolls" I would say to take it with a grain of salt until you verify it by more than a letter designed to bolster the financial interests of the one writing it. One thing important about patents is that you can't claim primarily functional aspects to be patented. Ultimately, a wavemaker pump isn't that complex. It's an impeller covered by an intake guard with an electric motor, a magnetic or suction mount. Then there of course is the controller hardware/software interface, which is another issue. The ornamental aspects of a product can be patented. And in this case Jebao has apparently changed the appearance of the unit enough that they believe it insulates them from any patent issues with Tunze. Whether that's true or not, I'd advise any vendors that want to sell Jebao pumps to consult with their own attorneys.


Another thing to remember about the branding, calling it a WP similar to vortech, almost certainly intentional to get potential buyers to believe it has similar performance. This happens all the time though and has repeatedly been upheld as a legal business practice. Imitation is the best form of flattery. Walmart for example sells their brand of Dr. Pepper and it is called Dr. Thunder. Soda Stream sells a version of Dr. Pepper and it is called Dr. Pete. Look at any in-store brand at Walmart, Walgreens, Target, etc and you can see that they give hints at what name brand product it is imitating. Sometimes the company goes too far and they get forced to change a name or packaging, but generally this goes on routinely without any isssue.


So I guess I would say if we can get a definitive legal opinion on the patent status (Not from a biased source), then vendors can decide what to do .Many companies engage in patent threats to protect their market share from legitimate competition all the time, and bullying vendors with "comply or I take my ball and go home" is always the threat. Tunze could potentially be doing the same thing here. What happens if Jebao is found not to be in any patent violation is that Tunze is then forced to lower costs, find a cheaper way to manufacture their product or reduce their profit margins. If Jebao is in violation of some patent, shame on them. Though they will probably just change the ornamental appearance further, the equivalent of putting a spoiler on a Honda Civic, to make it look different enough from the Tunze pumps.


edit* For what it's worth I'll add that Tunze is no more an American company than Toyota is. They make it here and the parent company is in Germany who receives a portion or all of the profit. Unless Tunze USA LLC is merely paying for the name and design standards via licensing similar to a franchise. Also, I am not sure they actually manufacture it in the US, Tunze USA is described on the corp website as a "distributor". Either way, Uncle Fritz is getting our money. Also don't buy Mitisubishi products because they made the engines for the Japanese Zero in WWII. (My dearly departed grandfather insisted I put that in there).*

 

Very well said.

May this rest!