Had a look at this…i personally feel this is laughable considering most of the ideas in it have probably originated from this forum.
Take a look.
K
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Well it definitely goes back further than 2022 so best of luck to Kevin if he tries to defend his patent 
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To follow the patent status, nothing better than the online version:
As of 13th April 2024, Status : pending - It is just a patent application publication, it is not granted yet.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/280,130, filed on Nov. 16, 2021
This is when it all started on this forum with @pacificmeister’s video : Sept 23rd, 2020, more than a year before the Provisional Patent Application claim date …
'Electric Tow Boogie
or
In Sept. 2020, there was nothing like "“unmaned device” “catching waves”, “repositioning at a rendezvous position after the rider has caught the wave and let go of the tow rope” “shared by multiple riders each having their own remote” ideas that were brought by the Bremote later on…
@Strongarm, your zeroTow could be the first “victim” of this
[0017] The present invention is an unmanned device that can respond to control signals of the remote control held by the rider to aid the rider in catching waves. The present device (…) provides means for repositioning at a rendezvous position after the rider has caught the wave and let go of the tow rope. Further, the present invention can be shared by multiple riders each having their own remote
I had a look through this a few days ago. A lot of time and money would have gone into the patent. I think the time and money would have been better spent developing the best product possible instead.
After a quick read though, It doesn’t seem that there is anything patentable that wasn’t either prior art or is novel. It seems to be a collection of concepts.
A few interesting things:
The patented steering method is either a jet with a nozzle, a prop with a “rudder behind it”, or dual motors. The zerotow Boogie pivots the entire motor to direct the thrust.
The patents talks of an enclosure with a removable lid. The zerotow Boogie does not have a lid, but instead a waterproof zipper.
The patent talks of the tow rope a fixed to the top side of the tow vessel, the zerotow Boogie attaches at the bottom.
The “Follow Me Button” i dont think is patentable, but we are removing this “button” on the next software release, and instead activating by measuring the increase in distance between the Boogie and the Remote when you let go of the rope.
The following aspect is something that probably could have been patentable, if it went into more detail. But this detail is impossible to figure out from behind a desk, it’s taken 18 months of on water testing to get it right. There is also lots and lots of prior art for GPS following/waypoint devices dating back 5-10 years through the open source ardupilot software.
Lots of other things in the patent like controlling the steering with buttons, but radio controlled boats have been around for years and isn’t novel.
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Does anyone know if there is a possibility to challenge a patent without using a lawyer, we might be able to send in documentation, aiding the patent legislators to take the decision to reject this.
For DIY there is no real need to challenge the patent. Im pretty sure the zerotow doesn’t infringe on any claims either.
My point is that these unlawful patents hinder the business, and steals our work. Therefore it might be worth challenging.
Whats going to be interesting is what happens with Foil Drives patent. They’ve done the same around patenting existing tech and there are now quite a few companies offering under board units.
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