HM & SS Sachs wrote:
> I was not there, and I don't know the outcome of the Cannondale - Klein
> patent infringement lawsuit, but it's not clear to me that Gary Klein
> was the source of the idea of welding oversized aluminum tubes.
The Klein patent was a concern for us at Trek when we were designing the first Trek Aluminum frame. To that end we had a number of discussions and visits with Gary Klein about whether our design would infringe on his patent. IIRC, the Klein patent covered the use of oversize Aluminum tubing in welded bicycle frames to produce a frame that was both stiffer and lighter than a conventional steel frame. The Trek frame used oversize tubing in a bonded frame to create a frame that was explicitly designed to have similar stiffness and riding characteristics as a steel frame -- not stiffer, like the Klein and Cannondale. For that reason our design was not felt to infringe on the Klein patent.
I have vague recollections that Cannondale eventually had to pay a license fee to Klein for their oversize welded frames.
--
John (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA