Wapin and ethics

[Richard Moody]

| When I first heard about Wapin, my first reaction was. $325 to teach
me how
| to drill a straight hole?  And I have to agree not to tell anybody
else?  I
| remember Baldwin (a privately owned company) offering to let techs
use their
| two patents (plate mounting and accujust hitch pins) for free.  Now
here is
| the U of Cincinnati ( a publicly funded organization) wanting to
profit on a
| patent.


So if UCin  lets you use the Wapin for free suddenly they will be good
guys?
I think a practical view of the Wapin fee will emerge from business
experience.  If you install the Wapin, you will either like it or move
on to something else.  If it turns out to be good income/profit  for
you, the objections to the patent and fee are moot.  If the fee is
actually impeding business that would be a legitimate complaint.

Now if you install it without the fee the most illegal thing you can
do is call it "Wapin" and get paid for it as a Wapin.   So what are
you advocating?  Tell your clients, "I have two or three reasons why
the patent should not have been granted so I can save you $325."   Or
explain to clients why they should pay extra for 3 rows of pins
instead of  two without mentioning Wapin?

I am pretty sure you are not suggesting  using someone else's  ideas
for private gain.  When discussing the merits of a patent or the cost
of using it,  there is always an underlying concern; that is
recognition,
respect and equitable compensation for original ideas  and cultivation
of a society that encourages this to happen.

As for it being  patented and why there is a fee, I thought that was
explained very well at Reno and on the web site.   But think also if a
patent were not granted for the Wapin, it would still be protected
under design and trademark laws and hopefully most of all by
professional ethics.  After all it was invented/discovered by a fellow
technician with great help from the institution that employed him.
If the fee too high, we should negotiate.    ---ric


----- Original Message -----
From: Carl Meyer <cmpiano@home.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2001 11:49 PM
Subject: Re: plate reaction was Re: Pitch Raising to A440.......Or
Not?



| When I first heard about Wapin, my first reaction was. $325 to teach
me how
| to drill a straight hole?  And I have to agree not to tell anybody
else?  I
| remember Baldwin (a privately owned company) offering to let techs
use their
| two patents (plate mounting and accujust hitch pins) for free.  Now
here is
| the U of Cincinnati ( a publicly funded organization) wanting to
profit on a
| patent.
|
| Here's where the plot thins.  The patent office no longer enforces
many of
| the requirements for getting a patent.  More money in the coffers of
the
| department and business being thrown to their buddies, the lawyers.
It
| takes a lot of money to overturn or defend a patent.  For a patent
that has
| limited application that in itself is prohibitive.
|
| The data in the Wapin web sight is not in the same form as the data
taken by
| Wienrick in the Scientific American.
|
| I attended the minitechnical at Reno given by Wapin.  My motive to
attend
| was to verify that in fact they wanted that fee and to glean some
more
| technical information.  Yes they wanted the fee and no I didn't get
any
| useful information.
|
| I was one of three attendees and I think at least one other was one
of their
| guys.  In contrast, the verituner class was overflowing.
|
| The main thrust of this class was:  The University of Cincinnati has
a
| strong legal staff and the University derives much of it's income by
| liscening patents that it owns.  This appeared to be a source of
pride.
|
| There is a three pin version of Wapin and also a two pin version.
| Supposedly, you can Wapinize just the killer octave to improve the
sustain
| so the soundboard need not be replaced.
|
| I'm not saying it doesn't work.  Most of the worlds problems are not
| technological, they are social, political and economic.
|
| So now you know why I keep kicking my feeble brain around trying to
think of
| a way to do it even better but in a different way.  Even if I could,
I'd
| have a hard time proving it, patenting it, defending it and selling
it.  Oh,
| Well!
|
| Sorry for the rant
|
|
| Carl Meyer  Assoc. PTG
| Santa Clara, California
|
|