Funtime threatens to sue Cedar Point if it builds Mondial's version of its StarFlyer

Wow, I don't see how this is at all a good move fore Funtime.

Hers some info:

US Starflyer Patent

Interesting not in patent Law talks about code 35U.S.C 154 which states;

(1) CONTENTS.-Every patent shall contain a short title of the invention and a grant to the patentee, his heirs or assigns, of the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States, and, if the invention is a process, of the right to exclude others from using, offering for sale or selling throughout the United States, or importing into the United States, products made by that process, referring to the specification for the particulars thereof.

I think they might be using the Importing section of that bylaw against CP. But no mater what this should be geared towards the manufacturer(mondial) Not Cedar Point.

Thing is I don;t know how Funtime can be so upset this s not exactly a new concept simply a old concept with a new guest ride set up. Is the ride really all that different from past rides like the Chance Aviator or the Intamin Barnstormer.

LostKause said:
I'd love to see Cedar Point sue the newspaper for letting the cat out of the bag and ruining their marketing campaign. I still stand by my "stupid reporter" remark from the other thread.

And you write for a newspaper? Your comments are disgraceful to the profession of journalism. Even suggesting what you have is professional suicide. Good luck with that.

LK, I don't see what's sacred about a date set aside to announce a park's new attraction. Actually serves them right-- why can't they just announce their new attraction sometime, instead of announcing that they're going to announce it? Don't you think people will find out about it or won't be interested in it anyway unless it's part of a 2-month long marketing campaign with clues and riddles, etc.? (Sorry, Paula if you're reading this.)

Whether what Funtime is doing has merit or not, it's a valid news story and should trump Cedar Fair's marketing campaign.

Tekwardo said:

Ride manufacturers knock each other off all the time,

Geez...I didn't know the mafia was involved in the theme park business. I mean, I know they are prevalent in Sandusky...I just didn't know they owned hotels AND built rides.

Whadda ya means, "mafia" in Sandusky? Dere's only legitimate bidness-men here! ;~I

The Cedar Mafia.

The Star Flyer is patented. Is the reverse bungee etc?

^ The spring propulsion system is, apparently.

http://www.funtime.com.au/data/tech1.htm

mlnem4s said:

It seems like anything and everything associated with Dick Kinzel turns into an absolute nightmare, his ego completely prevents him from seeing the reality of his doings. None of us were privy to what may or may not have been talked about between Kinzel and Funtime so I wouldn't be so quick to blast them (Funtime) over this. Kinzel is VERY shrewd and would screw a dead man over if he could.

Karma can be a bitch, no?

Do you carry any other stations? The reception on this one is getting really fuzzy. :)

"This breaking news just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!"

Carrie +1

Carrie M. said:

Do you carry any other stations? The reception on this one is getting really fuzzy. :)

General reminder: I *still* offer translational services....for a nominal fee of course. ;)

I hear that a half-million people filed for unemployment last week. That must be Kinzel's fault somehow, as well.

Only in Ohio, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, Minnesota, and Michigan. Oh, and all of Canada.

I wouldn't screw up a marketing campaign for the biggest business in town. It would take a level of creativity to write an article, without letting out secrets that Cedar Point didn't want released. This reporter knew that the ride wasn't announced yet. Posting what the ride is going to be on the internet before the announcement makes him look really desperate for a big story.

I wouldn't have spelled out what Cedar Point was planing to install. There is a reason for the park to build up excitement. The silly announcement games makes people more excited, and in turn gets the park more attendance.

I see and hear about lawsuits all of the time in this business.

And I kind of took that back anyways. My reply after DjDaemon was...

Okay then. Good point. Maybe Cedar Point should counter-sue Funtime for telling the reporter what the new ride was.

The new ride should not have been disclosed. Whoever is responsible for letting the cat out of the bag should not be able to get away with it.

Do we have any objections about that instead?

And just for the record, I only write one or two feature stories or movie reviews a week, for a small, weekly, county newspaper. I'm hardly a professional writer.

Some ride company threatens to sue Cedar Point if it builds another ride company's version of its ride

Title of thread edited for Travis.

Is it possible this is just some big PR stunt? Maybe they aren't building either one of these things. Just curious what you guys think.. Wouldn't really suprise me one bit.

So then would you also not say something negative about a business or businessperson who's one of your paper's main advertisers? Or speak negatively about a politician who brought some pork project to your town or county? (Or even worse, take a position defending him or her)

I'm not sure what level of creativity you're referring to, LK. Shoud the writer have used code words for the various rides and manufacturers? Or just typed in asterisks wherever something that might be a secret would appear?

Saying this company from another country (but we can't tell you which one) is going to sue Cedar Fair because they aren't going to buy a ride-- that we can't tell you what it is-- from this company, because they're going to buy one from another company, who we can't mention either, because it looks almost the same as the other ride that we can't mention either. Then you don't have a news story, you have something that couldn't even be submitted to Screamscape.

Again, a company's marketing campaign is not an issue of national security. Spilling the beans a few days early because of a valid news story doesn't ruin the ride, and won't keep anybody who wants to ride it from doing so.

The article definitely should have been written. It is news after all. I think you could make a case for hiding some of the ride details behind a "spoiler alert".

As an aside, what kind of throughput does these kind of rides have. At first glance it seems pretty low which seems to be the antithesis of what you would want to install at CP.

It is 50 passengers per cycle. So this would be the same as Maxair. I don't know how long the cycle would be so I couldn't tell you how many riders per hour.

http://www.parkworld-online.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1596/Mondial...eeker.html