28/07/2021
Over the last few weeks I have received a number of reports from people saying they have seen images of a copies of Dragon Hatch trays offered for bulk sale from Asia for the purposes of resale.
Having seen the design of these copies, I’m of the opinion that they infringe on my intellectual property rights despite the minor differences which have been made. If you are considering investing in these and reselling them in the UK, EU or US then I’d suggest you investigate your freedom to operate (FTO) before doing so to avoid costly mistakes (this is good advice whenever you intend to trade really!)
If you know someone who has bought these overseas copies, please let them know they may unwittingly be infringing if they intend to resell them. (I would, and have, quite happily discussed the prospect of exclusive tray colours for those who want to buy in bulk, might not be as cheap as you could get, but I would take the pepsi challenge on quality any day!)
Like most of you following this account I keep and breed Ball/Royal Pythons. In 2020 I decided to try the existing hatch trays...I was a bit disappointed to find that the first clutch I put on them the eggs were to long to fit end to end. With a background in design engineering, and not a lot to do during the lockdowns, I set about the design of the Dragon Hatch tray.
Being just one guy, I wasn’t going to pursue this myself as there are significant costs in putting a “simple plastic object” into production: Prototypes, tooling, stock, sourcing manufacturers and materials - all takes time and money running into the 10’s of thousands
I find it odd that the majority of people would agree that it is bad or wrong to steal someone else's physical property, but that it is somehow intellectual property is fair game. Often cost is used as some sort of justification as to why it is being done - but the cost of getting this “simple plastic object” out into the world is far more than just the cost of plastic that has gone into one of the trays!
If you agree that stealing ideas is theft give this post a like, share, and a lightbulb 💡 in the comments!
-Keir, the human behind Dragon Hatch
👋🎤
