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Check out this new Malibu boat???


Cory

Pissed or Flattered?  

179 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Malibu be pissed or flattered?

    • Pissed
      116
    • Flattered
      63
  2. 2. Does this diminish Malibu's brand recognition?

    • Yes
      89
    • No
      90


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I wonder whether Malibu could file for Trademark protection on the aesthetic look of the tower??? Until now, the tower profile certainly has been uniquely identified with Malibu as the source of the goods.

I'm a patent attorney, but I don't personally deal with trademark/copyright issues very often. The last time I dealt with trademark issues was in law school, so I'm NOT giving a legal opinion here.

Edited by Cory
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Wow, first the picklefork with Mastercraft, now the illusion tower.... Tige must have a low budget in the R&D department.

They should release a picklefork boat with an Illusion X tower!!! I wonder how that would sell???

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I'm pretty sure every boat mfg. and tower mfg. had to pay royalties to use a front and rear legged wakeboard tower to CC (?) I'm sure Malibu patented their Illusion tower.

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Haha, same patterns for the color scheme as well, looks like a total rip off. Tige sucks, they are a joke of a boat company, and I guess this is their best way of backing up their statement as being a 'malibu competitor.'

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I'll probably get hammered for this but when you look at them side by side, I think the Tige is a little sleeker looking, kinda like a new Sunsetter Lxi or vlx

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I'm pretty sure every boat mfg. and tower mfg. had to pay royalties to use a front and rear legged wakeboard tower to CC (?) I'm sure Malibu patented their Illusion tower.

I did a quick search on the USPTO's website and only found four issued patents to Malibu Boats:

7,140,318: covers their wedge

6,647,915: covers their windshield assembly

5,211,592: covers their fiberglass engine chassis stringers

5,018,474: covers their swivel head pylon

It is possible that they filed a patent on the tower, which is still pending but not issued (doubtful though). It is also possible that an assignment for this elusive patent has not been recorded in their name or was recorded in a different name, in which case my down and dirty search wouldn't uncover it.

I wasn't talking about patent coverage. I am more focusing on the trademark issue, since I think Malibu has a lot of brand recognition wrapped up in their forward swept tower design.

I took a tour of their Merced, CA factory last year. I recall the gal giving the tour saying that they had a few patents. I was actually surprised at how few patents they have, particularly since they are located only 2 hour outside Silicon Valley--the mecca of patent law firms (even my firm is home based their)--and they market themselves as a cutting edge R&D boat company.

Edited by Cory
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I'm pretty sure every boat mfg. and tower mfg. had to pay royalties to use a front and rear legged wakeboard tower to CC (?) I'm sure Malibu patented their Illusion tower.

The Illusion X tower may have been novel as a watersports towing tower, but obviousness may have been a tough hurdle to obtain a patent given the existence of Tuna Towers (many of which also have that forward swept design). Not sure??? I don't know when Malibu came up with the Illusion X or what other similar devices existed on the market at the time. I hope they at least attempted to patent it, cause it's a kick @ss tower.

Edited by Cory
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Except that Malibu wasn't the first swoop forward tower. There were others before the Metcraft, including one by Titan. There is a Cobalt/Crownline - like I/O on our lake with one that is probably 10 yrs old. No clue who made it.

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Malibu can't patent it, it's owned and built by Metcraft. Now maybe Bob Metcraft patented it.... I don't know -

Maybe an exclusivity contract expired?? I thought Titan was exclusive to Malibu for a short while and the T3 still is...

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I'll probably get hammered for this but when you look at them side by side, I think the Tige is a little sleeker looking, kinda like a new Sunsetter Lxi or vlx

I can't disagree but maybe easier to take water over the bow?

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Malibu can't patent it, it's owned and built by Metcraft. Now maybe Bob Metcraft patented it.... I don't know -

agree, just like using indmar for a power plant Whistling.gif what can you do!

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here are some better pics of the tower(and the whole '09 tige lineup). I don't know, I think it's different enough to not be an outright copy.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7182

RZ2-2.jpg

nice wetsounds mounts!

RZ2-3.jpg

EDIT: on a side note. I think the vented driver's seat back is a GREAT idea(something malibu may want to consider). always end up with a sweaty back if we try to drive shirt-less and we end up throwing a towel over the seat. then again, we are usually in 100+ degree weather...

Edited by PDR447
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here are some better pics of the tower(and the whole '09 tige lineup). I don't know, I think it's different enough to not be an outright copy.

<a href="http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7182" target="_blank">http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7182</a>

RZ2-2.jpg

nice wetsounds mounts!

RZ2-3.jpg

the whole...we are going to try and be like malibu and then wait...lets sweep it back to be different looks completely gay! if I saw that on the water I would make sure I pulled up next to him and give him a hard time! Tease.gif

If you want to be like malibu...just buy a malibu! Thumbup.gif

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After seeing these pictures, I don't the two towers will be confused. I can't say I really like the Tige tower much...

Yeah and the toxigreen color will date it, but the models are way better looking than Malibu's

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I remember when the first generation of Chevy trucks came out, every newer generation that followed someone always hated the body style, or got bad reviews. It just either grows on you or it doesn't. They are not the first to try and copy the concept of the illusion tower, so you can't knock them for trying something new. If you like tige' then you buy what is attached or replace it.

Just my opinion :)

If malibu had a butt ugly tower would I buy it again, I'm not sure :unsure:

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It looks like there may be lights built in to the corner of that tower right where it sweeps back. That might be a nice feature. I also like the custom speaker mounts. I wonder if the "wetsounds" logo on the speaker is lined up on the bottom of the speaker with these mounts, mine are tilted sideways when mounted on the illusion. It's a tiny thing that bugs me when I see it, so I don't look them and turn the speakers up Thumbup.gif

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If I wanted netting on the back of my seat I would bolt a lawnchair in. Looks like that's what Tige did.

Not a fan of Tige. I personally think Charlie is a D-Bag who has no new ideas and just rips off other companies and does a lot of marketing. They will be gone in 3 years and I will be surprised if they sell over 300 boats this year. Our local dealer came and went in less than a year and they were right next to a Copes so foot traffic wasn't an issue.

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We have a customer who has put 4 steering cables in over a 3 year period, b/c they sit in water in the bilge. Me thinks they should worry about fixing/re designing the junk they already have on the water.

They can copy whoever all they want. But at the end of the day, you still own a Tige'...and all the BS that comes with owning a Tige'.

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