It’s not so common knowledge to the general kiting public that Best Kiteboarding recently acquired Bruno Legaignoux’s patents that cover Bow kites. The majority of kites sold today fall under this style of kite. North Kiteboarding recently became a licensee and joins other major players Airush, Cabrinha, Slingshot, Starkites and Takoon.
Here is a press release issued by Best Kiteboarding today.
Berlin in June 2015 , “Push the bar!” – all kite students heard this yell in their first lesson before crashing the kite and giving it one more try. Well, that wouldn’t have helped anyhow without the cleverness and pioneering spirit of the Legaignoux brothers Dominique and Bruno. First they invented the inflatable kite and with it the sport of kitesurfing in 1984. Continuously thinking on how to make the sport more accessible they created the modern depowerable†bow kite in 2002. Their genius made kiteboarding not only possible but also as incredibly safe as it is today.
Now how do you make an industry worship that you just reinvented their business? After more than a decade of endless fights Bruno Legaignoux decided to better have one of his early licensing manufacturers stopping the patent chase: Best Kiteboarding. Thus Best will manage the Depowerable Bow Kite patent from now on, ensuring the support from all brands who market their kites based on the French brothers’ design idea.
After its first appearance the Legaignoux’s disruptive depower design had been copied and pasted into almost every competitive kite on the market within short time. The instant experienceable benefits of the new design lead to an unseen growth of people entering the sport. By fighting the brothers’ patent with lawyers some brands first tried to get around licensing fees while Best Kiteboarding paid the license from the very beginning. Remember the Best Waroo?
Now it’s time to free the industry from this ongoing legal insecurity and injustice. After discussing the issue with market leader North Kiteboarding both companies agreed to settle the case in a cooperative manner so that all brands already licensing the patent can base their product on unquestionable patents while others don’t get away with stealing the Legaignoux’s intellectual property.
North Kiteboarding settles to join major players of the industry.
Besides Best Kiteboarding also Airush, Cabrinha, Slingshot, Starkites and Takoon are licensees for many years. North Kiteboarding recognized the value of the innovation and recently became a licensee. Together with Best these leading industry partners contribute to innovation and safety for their customers just like with many other patented techniques in kite and bar design.
What is the patent exactly about
Any kite flattened by/with bridles located/attached on/along the leading edge and showing a concave trailing edge “during flight, when viewed from above” is covered as described in the hereunder issued patents.
● U.S. Patent No. 7,494,093 entitled “Wing Having A Negative Dihedron For Towing Load”,
● U.S. Patent No. 7,374,133 entitled “Wing For Having A Negative Dihedron For Towing Load”,
● Canadian Patent No. 2,498,729 entitled “Negative Dihedral Wing For Pulling A Load,”
● European Patent No. EP 1,574,241 entitled “Aile à dièdre négatif de traction d’une charge”,
The patents are valid until 2025. Through this design concept a kite provides not only easy relaunch but huge depower, resulting in a tremendously larger wind range.
