HANS vs. DEFENDER

[SR Racing]

HANS SERVES PATENT INFRINGEMENT SUIT AGAINST DEFNDER

Atlanta, Georgia (May 26, 2009) - HANS Performance Products, manufacturers of the multiple award winning HANS Device, has served a patent infringement suit against makers of the defNder G70, Innovative Safety Technology, LLC.

In the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, HANS asserts that IST’s defNder G70 product infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,009,566. HANS is seeking an injunction against the further sale of the defNder G70 product and damages for its infringing sales.

“Serving the suit is an important step we must take to protect our HANS Device technology,” said, HANS’ Chief Executive Officer, Mark Stiles. “We will not sit idly by and let anyone steal our patented technology. It is disappointing that, in this case, we have to take legal action to defend our hard-earned rights.”

[Doug Carter]

It's all about "hard earned rights" and not about saving lives, I guess.


Unfortunate that lawsuits are so much a part of our society.

[FV80]

After looking over the new device (on their website), I believe that they will succeed in their defense against the HANS lawsuit. HANS is wasting their money. Their device is enough different so as to not be considered simply a 'knockoff'. It incorporates several new features and utilitzes technology that doesn't mirror the HANS. I have questioned the construction methods of the HANS myself - as it appears to be about 1000 times stiffer than needed for anything short of fighter jet speeds (IMHO). Although the pictures and manual for the defNder leave a LOT to be desired, it is nice to see that there is now an alternative that appears to be as good as the HANS ... I say APPEARS to be, since I haven't personally seen one.

It will be interesting to see if HANS drops their price after they lose the lawsuit <G>.

If HANS had a leg to stand on, we woudn't be able to buy decent CHEAP (mostly CHINESE) products from Harbor Freight for our racing garages
Steve

[dd46637]

I was able to look over a Defender device at Grattan this weekend. (Thank you Greg) I found it to be well made and not overly heavy. It is similar to a Hans in that they perform the same function but I really don't think the Hans people will win this battle. Meanwhile guess who will get to pay all the legal fees when all is said and done.

[Veefan]

Not sure if they will win, but they do have a fair case. Did you read the patent? This is a summary from the actual patent (I've also included a link), attorneys can easily argue that this description can apply to defNder G70 product.

"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an improved head and neck support device for use in high performance vehicles. The device includes a restraining yoke and a collar. The restraining yoke has two front portions which extend down from the shoulders of the occupant along the torso of the occupant. The restraining yoke also includes a rear portion which extends behind the neck and the shoulders of the occupant. The collar of the device extends upward from the rear portion of the restraining yoke behind the head of the occupant and is connected by tethers to the helmet of the occupant. The front portions and rear portion of the yoke are provided with load bearing surfaces. The shoulder belts of the shoulder harness of the vehicle extend over the front portions and rear portion of the restraining yoke on the load bearing surfaces when the device is mounted on the occupant such that the device is between the shoulder belts and the occupant. The collar acts to transfer the forces from the helmet through the tethers to the collar of the restraining yoke which transfers the forces through the load bearing surfaces to the shoulder belts of the shoulder harness thereby reducing the forces being transmitted to the neck of the occupant."


http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Pars ... /6,009,566

[hardingfv32-1]

Having reverse engineered and built my own HANS for my personal use, it would be my opinion that the DefNder is a direct copy. It might look deferent to the untrained eye, but all the key features are the same. The way the shoulder belts are used to hold down the back of the unit and the yokes control the roll/forward rotation. All of these functions must be accomplished in a different manner to avoid a patent infringement.

Brian

[dd46637]

Hopefully hans won't decide to sue you too.

[qposner]

It's all about "hard earned rights" and not about saving lives, I guess.


Unfortunate that lawsuits are so much a part of our society.

So if you were in the business or creating products that "save lives" and you spent considerable time, effort and money developing a life saving product that just happened to be profitable and someone came a long and copied your product (assuming that is what Defender did), you would sit idly by and allow it to happen (WOW, long run on sentence, huh)? After all, it is all about saving lives and not protecting your investment...

[Doug Carter]

On the contrary.

Though, if I promoted my company on the lives saved and the injury-saving capabilities of my product, I would be hypocritical to withhold the basic idea or concept solely for profit, if more lives could be saved by not allowing those theories to be relegated only to be used on my own products.

The physics of head movements in abrupt impacts in race cars are limited to certain mechanics. Keeping a head in a helmet from moving forward from a seated position can only be done in so many ways (effectively). At some point, the physical designs are limited and there will be overlap.



I will be buying a HANS soon, myself, but the company has been strong-arming the new cheaper DefNder for quite some time, with little in the way of success.

[smsazzy]

If there is only one way to do something is irrelevant. The person who discovered/invented and patented the idea owns the rights.

If they wanted to copy the idea, they should have licensed the technology.

There is only one way to sing "all shook up", but I don't think the judge would buy that when I am sued for singing it myself and selling CD's of it. Not that anyone would buy me singing all shook up.

Everyone complaining about the price of a HANS needs to come up with a different excuse. I would venture to guess it is priced similarly to an airbag in your passenger vehicle, and you likely didn't scream and complain to the dealer about having to pay an extra $1000-2000 for your car with front, side impact, etc. airbags? Some people think it is absolutely ridiculous to spend $600 for a set of tires that last 6-10 heat cycles, and they likely don't race.

If you don't feel $800 is fair to keep your head attached to your neck, then so be it, but you don't need to belittle the company that invented it. The market has shown that the price is fair, since tens of thousands have been sold.

[qposner]

On the contrary.

Though, if I promoted my company on the lives saved and the injury-saving capabilities of my product, I would be hypocritical to withhold the basic idea or concept solely for profit, if more lives could be saved by not allowing those theories to be relegated only to be used on my own products.

While I dont agree with you on the HANS, you do make a good point on big pharma.

[problemchild]

Unfortunately, I have not been able to use my Defender yet, but I have been very impressed with everything about the purchase, from the quick delivery, excellent dealer service, packaging, and apparent quality. The price was initially my attraction, the adjustability was a bonus .... and now I am pleased to find out that the performance is good enough to be sued over

Considering the adjustability and cost of the Defender, it seems like a great product for a FV racer.

[Matt King]

A patent is worthless and filing it is a waste of time and money if a company is not prepared to defend it, so I'm not surprised by this. In fact, I'm surprised it took so long considering there were rumblings from the day the Defnder was shown at PRI last year. I do think the competition is good for the racing community, and the Defnder does have some nice features, specifically the adjustability. I own a Mustang and have used a HANS for several years, but when I got the Vee I needed a different model. This was right around the time the Defnder came out and I considerd buying one, but I was able to make a deal to basically straight swap my 20M for a 30M so I stuck with the HANS, since I have gotten used to it and it's a proven design.

[Steven McWilliams JR]

Good thing I bought my Defender before the lawsuit! I could not feel it at all in the car by the way, felt good, and comfortable. The design does seem to mirror HANS, but made out of different material, and uses the green siding for protection so you don't strain your neck in side impacts.