Excuse me if I deflect this thread for a bit, but several statements really tweaked me.
I understand what Ryan means,".. being the first just costs money." Creating a product and then having it taken by anybody with no consideration of your effort, lacks a matter of respect, if not morals. But most think, "It's just business." So, when you get the CRAP from China (As they steal everything and anything, patented or not) and they screw you royally with a product that inevitably goes downhill with 'quality fade', it becomes 'caveat emptor'.
We have been copied for a bolt we cannot possibly 'protect', and then those who 'borrow the idea' have been known to get the wrong bolt material. Oh well, not my problem...I recall one vendor requesting all the parts to assemble a cylinder head we make here. I refused him, as "We are creating assemblies. We are not, as you, a 'parts store". For not giving away all the branding and basically 'giving the entire list' for what we do, I got called,'an *******.' I think it's quite the opposite, as he sells one of my 'great ideas' and never even said 'Thank you.' What is worse, that person's most sold part, patented as it is, was not 'invented', but improved upon, so, mostly stolen. So, patents have their limits, too.
When you create a great idea, the only thing you can claim is, 'That was my great idea.' You can't patent many great ideas. And when it comes to morals, forget it. All you have to do is make a mention of it, and next thing you know, everyone does it. BRM oil pump sprockets and chains and tensioners on ALH engines, for example. I recall on one of the older turbo threads, one of the good builders was asked where he got his billet wheels. Of course, he refused to tell. Why not ask him, "What are all your secrets, that if you tell me, I don't need you and can do it all myself."
I am one of those people, who can't protect every item from theft, but Ryan, it's easier to steal that create. Always will be.
Same thing with creating our Molnar connecting rod. We cannot patent this 'great idea' connecting rod. If we didn't have our friend and producer with some honor, at least two people have tried to steal them; one, an English vendor and another was a vendor from the US. You can get them, but you have to go through me.
On the other hand, we know one of the other very well known rod providers and one of their manufacturers; all you have to do is ask, and that manufacturer will provide directly to you...thanks for your design, we'll keep the extra profit. What you don't know won't hurt you, right?
As I said, most great ideas cannot be patented. You create them, have a window of opportunity to protect them by secrecy, and then, great ideas are taken away. If you look closely, most who sell great ideas are not the ones to invent them and there are many who claim 'invention' or call it 'exclusive' and it's just more Baloney. Most claims of exclusive is just a marketing lie.
Right now, I am keeping many items that we do with our engine mods totally secret, to the point that even if you were to reverse engineer the part, you probably would not know what you are looking at. One of these days, if I feel like it, I'll share some of those secrets. Or maybe not.
Sorry about that!
