[Discuss] GE and Quirky partnering

Alicia Gibb pip at nycresistor.com
Fri Apr 12 15:16:26 UTC 2013


That's a good point Chris, though if they're releasing patents you really
wouldn't have to go through anyone specific to build off those patents I'd
hope. I'm not sure what it means "thousands of U.S. patents available to
the global Quirky community" but I'm reading that as Quirky is the place
you get to view the said opened patents. Perhaps not the case, and I think
if you are choosing Quirky to be your manufacturer they do have a right to
say what the do and don't want to produce. Hopefully the open patents and
Quirky's manufacturing house are two separate things.


Alicia


On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 9:06 AM, Chris Church <thisdroneeatspeople at gmail.com
> wrote:

>
> On Apr 12, 2013, at 6:23 AM, Tom Igoe wrote:
>
> http://www.quirky.com/ge
>
> Quirky <http://newsletter.makezine.com/t/r-l-otjdyht-jttikjulyh-d/>, the
> crowdsourced hardware startup that develops and sells modest gadgets like
> egg yolk extractors and ear bud holders,announced a partnership<http://newsletter.makezine.com/t/r-l-otjdyht-jttikjulyh-h/> on
> Wednesday with GE<http://newsletter.makezine.com/t/r-l-otjdyht-jttikjulyh-k/>,
> the global corporation that makes jet engines and wind turbines.
>
>
> An interesting development, but it looks like you'll only be able to
> design around said patents if your product is approved by Quirky and
> sold/manufactured through them, and their past behavior with OXO makes me
> concerned about their future behavior with other independents.
>
> I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Quirky, and their business.  This seems
> more like a ploy to find additional revenues for GE through Quirky (with
> additional benefit to Quirky, of course), than any real opening up of the
> patents.  GE could just do that, but they've chosen to restrict the channel
> to one manufacturer/distributor, with what appears to be a review board for
> approval to even make a design around one.
>
> Chris
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.oshwa.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20130412/65a084ff/attachment.html>


More information about the discuss mailing list