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- From: beilstei@ecs.umass.edu
- Newsgroups: rec.skiing
- Subject: Re: gore-tex patent expires? (was:Re: Gore-tex vs etc)
- Message-ID: <19121.2b10d41b@ecs.umass.edu>
- Date: 23 Nov 92 12:52:42 GMT
- References: <1992Nov22.180126.18370@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <98736@netnews.upenn.edu>
- Lines: 54
-
- In article <98736@netnews.upenn.edu>, lobaugh@a.chem.upenn.edu (John Lobaugh) writes:
- > On the subject of Gore-tex, I read a net.rumor on rec.backcountry that the
- > patent on Gore-Tex is about to expire and that we are going to see a whole
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
- > host of cheap Gore-Tex products in the near future.
- > Does this make sense to anyone out there? I have no idea how patent
- > law works and how it differs from country to country so I thought I would ask
- > the net...
- >
- > --
- > "Let us say Yes to our precesence together in Chaos" John Cage
- > John lobaugh@a.chem.upenn.edu
-
- John,
-
- I believe the rumors you have heard are true on the Gortex patent.
- While working at DuPont 3 summers ago there was a discussion about the future
- of the Gore company (obviously they make Gortex and other products based
- on the Gortex technology) and how the expiration of the patent would
- effect the company. Now from what I understand (I won't vouch for the
- accuracy of this) the original formulation of the "gortex" material was
- invented at DuPont, and the person who founded the Gore company was a former
- polymer researcher at DuPont who further refined the process to get around
- the original DuPont patent he developed. Now since then the Gore formulation
- of Goretex (formulation is very important here) is the information covered
- in the patent. Now from friends who work at Gore, I have learned that the
- formula has been updated and improved over the 30 year life-span of the
- patent, and this new formulation (and the new process that goes with
- the new formula) has never been patented and is thus proprietory information...
- in other words a company secret! Now when one goes and interviews with
- the Gore company, a plant tour never includes a tour of the production
- facilities, just a look at the beginning of the factory and a look at the
- end of the factory (this I know to be a fact). Thus security and secrecy is
- of highest priority at Gore to protect the investment. This is true of most
- companies with outstanding products, I think you'll find that information
- is only patented if someone else discovers it in the mean time.
-
- So in conclusion (if I can really draw any on these facts), I believe
- the Gore company and the product Gore-Tex will not be undersold and overrun by
- cheeper competitors. The prices may sink somewhat however, as other companies
- develop or pursue the technology just to insure a stronghold in the market.
- I think most of the important information about the Gore-Tex product is
- not included in the patent that will be expiring. In addition, the process
- for making Gore-Tex is not covered in the patent, and being a chemical engineer
- I can safely tell you this is often more important than what the product
- really is in terms of chemical structure etc. These are my observations
- from a combination of personal experiences and second hand knowledge.....so
- I could be totally wrong :-), but I have a feeling that I am closer to
- the truth than not.
-
- Hope that helps.....Jim.
-
-
-