Chinese Hoverboard Booth Raided by US Marshals at CES - Patent enforcement

Chinese Hoverboard Booth Raided by U.S. Marshals at CES | Watch the video - Yahoo Finance:

Also, there's a better story and another video on Bloomberg here.

That's very brazen. A Chinese knock-off shows up at a big gadget expo (Consumer Electronics expo) with samples of a single-wheel hoverboard that distinctly looks and functions like the Onewheel patented by Future Motion of California (inventor Kyle Doerksen). The Onewheel utility patent was already issued and this week a design patent was approved.

Federal Marshals showed up to take the knock-offs off in handcuffs (so to speak).

It is the responsibility of a patent owner to enforce patents. A willful infringer can be subject to treble damages (civil suit). But to really shut down a determined pirate, requires a diligent effort.

To do this so quickly and so forcefully, requires some pretty impressive action on the part of Future Motion.

Note the part that Alibaba, the Chinese answer to Amazon on steroids, plays in the infringement process. If you are buying a one-wheel for $500 but the real manufacture sells Onewheel at $1,500, you might be buying into something that is too good to be true.

Note the part that Kickstarter played in launching this invention with a massively successful $630k campaign. See here.

Note, lastly, that there appear to be quite a few patents within this space. (The Chinese company may have been infringing on dozens of patents, not just 2.)

Well, time to go levitate.

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The Refractive Thinker Brain Teaser Game App by Dr. Cheryl Lentz — Kickstarter

The Refractive Thinker Brain Teaser Game App by Dr. Cheryl Lentz — Kickstarter

Interesting game idea. Having fun while you learn...

Or just having fun, that can be okay too!:-)

I think it would be cool to create RT Teasers for each volume of the Refractive thinker books. (maybe starting with the next one). I could see Profs using it with articles and books that students were (supposed) to read. Have a little fun with it. This isn't really a question, just a comment.

I hope this project makes the goal, 'cause I can't wait to see it.

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Printeer - a 3D printer for kids & schools by Mission Street Manufacturing — Kickstarter

Printeer - a 3D printer for kids & schools by Mission Street Manufacturing — Kickstarter:

Educational version of a 3D printer. For the change in your pocket (provided you have $600 in your pocket).

I like this quote: "We believe that kids are the most creative people on the planet."

The iPad app is used to design the 3D object and then print on the 3D printer. The printer is totally clear so you can see the whole printing process.

I love it. I want one for me. Heck with the kids... The kids can go buy themselves one.

Cool funding project on KickStarter. Already twice the $50k goal.

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BioLite BaseCamp Stove | Turn Fire into Electricity by BioLite — Kickstarter

BioLite BaseCamp Stove | Turn Fire into Electricity by BioLite — Kickstarter:

I love it. But only 62 hours to get in on the KickStarter offer. They are at twice goal with $800k+ and 3,000 backers.

Yes, it was DARK in Miami, when Hurricane Andrew came through South Miami/Homestead on August 24, 1992. Well, afterwards really. It would be weeks before most of us would get power. So bar-b-q grilling was the norm. That was not quite as much fun after a week or two without baths and without air conditioning. Little or no ice and warm drinks. Muggy and humid.

You did want to cook, obviously, but all the heat from the grill was the last thing we needed.

But a really cool cooking stove popped up in New York. A tiny stove the burned wood (or charcoal) and produced focused head for cooking. No need to cook the cook too.

This technology works wonders in countries where there is little or no electricity, and wood is often scarce, and the smoke from open cooking causes some of the world's worst health issues (probably only exceeded by water/sanitation).

You gotta see how far the technology has come. This is a BIG stove, relatively, that generates electricity (USB power) and has battery. It has an internal fan, to fan the fire so it can produce some serious heat possibilities -- especially given the ability to focus the flame.

This version comes with an LED light so you can see what's cooking at night.

As they say, this is the first version of the BaseCamp that is crowd designed. When you jump in on the crowd funding at KickStarter (BaseCamp) you will get a free carrying case.

You also get the warm-fuzzy feeling of knowing that this technology will save millions and millions of lives in energy starved countries.

All very very cool.

Keywords: Crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, genius of crowds, kickstarter, invention, sustainability, renewable energy, health,
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Kickstarter CEO: 'Veronica Mars' proves 'the power of audiences' | Inside Movies | EW.com

Kickstarter CEO: 'Veronica Mars' proves 'the power of audiences' | Inside Movies | EW.com:

When you go to watch Veronica Mars, if you haven't already done so...

Think about this. It has been the greatest success for any movie launched by crowd funding!

Capitalism at work by the masses. Very cool.

They blasted through the goal of $2M and raised $5.7M from 91,000+ backers.

Here is the YouTube Video teaser that they used to raise the money and to recruit MARShmellows to jump into the backer frenzy.

Right now I can watch it on Xfinity for only $17.99.

Gotta love it.

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Pono - HiRes Music - Kickstarter 250% funded - Muzak will never be the same!

Pono Music - Where Your Soul Rediscovers Music by the PonoMusic Team — Kickstarter:

Pono Music... a project funded at Kickstarter. http://kck.st/1g5xVf3

High resolution music in a world that has gone Digital!

Finally, I can put those olde (analog) records back on the shelf!

This Kickstarter.com campaign is set to roll over $2M in fund raising today. !Oops, took too long to blog! It is already over $2M! Original goal was only $800k. It is headed by Neil Young but has lots and lots of celec muzak backers. Two more added since I took too long to write this (James Taylor autographed player).

If you like this idea, jump on board. You can get a Pono muzak player for $300 this way with 128GB of storage. That actually is less than 1,000 tracks if you store them at the highest resolution. Of course, nobody has music at that high resolution... 

Pono will work with any artist or music company to get the highest resolution available (from masters) for the site. They won't stream initially in part because the size of the stream. Compression gets us the muZak we have today for our MP3 players -- maybe good, but definitely not great.

So, for 300 bucks or so, you to can sponsor this event, and the music site and the player devise. You will get a Pono player free for your sponsorship... well, $99 off of a $399 player. It should play any music, and the high resolution music you can put on it (now, really from PonoMusic.com, once the project is launched). Since the project is 200% funded, one can assume that it will launch. The plan is to build by this summer everything if the money came through from pre-sales and such on Kickstarter. Then all of the sponsors could expect their memorabilia and Pono players soon thereafter, say August.

The IP behind the player.I'm asking the question at Kickstarter about the IP behind the player. But, one of the key components of their IP is a patent by none other than Neil Young, himself. 

Patent Application: PCT/US2012/038099
Title: Multiple-resolution audio and video systems, methods of production, delivery and uses thereof
Priority date: Jan 20, 2009.

It will be interesting to see if it issues?

It will also be interesting to see if they go for a more open architecture like MP3 or proprietary approach.?

Kids, who have been listening to bad (quality) muzak all their lives, will never be the same.:-)

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Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites For Fundraising - Forbes

Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites For Fundraising - Forbes:

So you wanna get funding?

The first and fastest way, always, is to go to friends and family. They know you after all, and in spite of that, they may -- just may -- be willing and able to invest.

The next best way is to look around the channels of distribution for your product. They are the companies that will understand and appreciate your product/service fastest. Plus they might be able to profit from your addition/expansion in the market. Of course, they may also be in a position to cut you out of the idea entirely... This one of the many reasons for having strong IP (patent) protection.

Loans from your friendly neighborhood bank might be possible, but usually they require a personal guarantee (of the house and kids), sooooo if you could get a second loan (HLOC) on the house, that would typically be the direct way to fund.

Credit cards! Not so good an idea, maybe for some working capital.

If all these fail, you might move on to crowd funding... Or even is some of the other funding approaches works... Crowd funding usually brings with it a degree of advertising and promotion of your concept. That's good and bad. Now people know about your idea so they can consider investing. But now people know about your idea, so they can steal your idea, maybe. This one of the many reasons for having strong IP (patent) protection. But, I repeat myself, repeatedly.

Either way, when you go to the crowds, you will definitely get feedback on your idea and how investable it may be.

So, check out this cool article from Forbes and see what you think about going to the crowds (in the clouds) for (some) funding!?

Here is a quick summary of the various ways to fund a business and funding methods/types.

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