“Associated services” includes printing parts, packing and shipping correct hardware kits, providing supporting electronics and firmware, selling associated upgrades and accessories… i think you seem to reasonably well at that.
I can see why you wouldn’t want someone selling MPCNC Clone kits with low infill parts printed on unsquared printers with horrible.tolerances, where you can’t tell the 23.5mm parts from the 25mm or 25.4mm parts, then having the seller directing customers to your forums to discover why their excrement stinks.
Open source is good for the things that aren’t your core products. The MP3DP for example. I suppose someone can scrub your logos off of the parts and sell those if they wanted to, and you wouldn’t be financially hurt by it. Even if they got support for the printers here, it’s the seller’s reputation at stake. The CNC products you make are different.
I think the CC NC license is a good step. You can give the STL files for free, but retain some control.
The associated services around the actual product seem like a great idea. You’re going to end up being half engineer, half content creator which would be a TON of work that might not be in your wheel house. But maybe it is.
But as you said if it’s that easy to clone the new design, then value added services might be the most viable option. Unless you are independently wealthy I don’t think you could fight IP theft without losing your lunch.
There has to be an example of someone in your situation out there. I’m currently building a Voron 0.1 printer. How does Voron Design make their money? They don’t sell anything. I’ve sourced all my parts from vendors in the US and haven’t given Voron Design a dime. Maybe they don’t make any money but it seem to be quite the endeavor to do it for free.
I don’t know. The more I think about the situation the more I see why you are struggling with the question. Advanced BOMs, tiered versions, ad revenue, premium support for discord - no idea!
One thing I really think you should do is open up a Patreon account for yourself. There’s a vibrant community here that would be more than happy to support V1, myself included. Sure it’s cliché but every small stream helps.
I have always wondered that. In their discord it says they are an ethos, and a hobby, not a business. There is a merch store and a couple affiliate links. Vendors are not asked to do anything special except answer questions if people have them. This takes a lot of time, maybe there is a team of them working in their spare time. That also means that is not an example I am trying to follow. Those designs are quite a different design philosophy than mine. Love them though.
Yep. Saw Joel’s video on it. We were also at the table across from the first vendor to sell kits at the last MRRF I went to, so I got to give them crap about my kit taking so long to ship.
Pretty sure I will. I’ve given Shaneh the dates so she can plan some other things. She needs to see if her tatoo lady has time for her sleeve. I also need to help my dad install his starlink stuff better. He should be getting it this week sometime and is going to temp mount everything on his detached garage. I’ll help him run a line to the house when I’m up there.
Thanks for the patreon link. I hope to get a red dot some day.
By way of information on the whole patent perspective: There are 3 main types of patents: Articles, process, and design as I understand it, but I’m not an attorney, however I do have a couple issued patents.
An article patent claims something you can make that is unique. A process patent claims how to make something that is unique. A design patent claims the look/ feel of something unique.
A router/cnc is not a unique article. How to make it would not be novel, and the the trouble of process patents is enforcement. Design patents are the easiest to enforce because it is whether or not the jury thinks they look the same. I read something or saw something recently about popsockets intercepting thousands of Chinese knockoffs at customs and having them seized because the customs agent could refer to a design patent photo to identify an infringing product.
The core and trucks design/look of it could be patented as a design if unique. It’s function is not novel, nor is the 3d printing process, but the shape of it is. Once released and “disclosed,” you cannot patent it, but having a small group of beta testers that are under nondisclosure agreement doesn’t count as disclosure.
@vicious1
I’m not advocating patenting, but I do think it is possible if not really probable with each new design.
I joined this community because of the freely available designs and the store that easily supplies the stuff needed to get it working along with a forum that has some relevant, creative and useful mods. I was not fully aware of the licensing structure when I bought and the support structure or I would have purchased more of my build items from the store.
You could make the designs or extra mods etc available for a specific Patreon level.
Thanks, that was very great breakdown of the system. I appreciate that. A design patent is surely where I would have to qualify, to bad it is so close to art and a copyright. One is a heck of a lot cheaper!
At some point (hopefully not for many years) Ryan will need an exit strategy. A retirement plan so to speak. I assume that would look like a sell out of the full V1 business and all of its assets & I.P… I am just curious if any of these options like the patients would be more… alluring to a potential buyer.
I guess I am saying take steps that will also move you closer to where you want to eventually end.
I’m on a patent from years ago… listed the director of engineering, the project engineer and staff… the other engineer and i tried to ask why the names were misspelled, neither of us were And, nor Staff… lol
