Alpinestars Archives

Alpinestars Publishes Response to Dainese Case

Alpinestars published their response to the Munich Court of Appeals’ case.
The court sided with Dainese in their ruling.
Alpinestars maintains that they did not infringe on Dainese’s patents.

Alpinestars (A-Star) published their response to the recent German court decision with regards to a patent infringement case involving fellow Italian gear maker Dainese.

The decision by the Munich Court of Appeals will cause a huge effect to A-Stars’ Tech-Air airbag vests in the German market. In siding with Dainese, the court has issued an injunction against selling the product in the country. In addition to having their products pulled from the shelves, A-Stars also need to pay a huge sum in damages.

A-Stars is challenging Dainese’s charge that the they infringed on the latter’s patents. Judging from the wordings and language in the Press Release, the fight is not over. It’s going to be the Clash of Italian Titans.

The focal point of the contention is how the airbag vest is held in a garment.

Alpinestars’ Press Release

On February 7, 2019 the Higher Regional Court of Munich issued judgment upholding the claim that Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® vest infringes upon patent EP 2 412 257 B1 held by Dainese S.p.A.

Alpinestars wants to clarify that this action never involved the core of Alpinestars Tech-Air® technology; at no point, either past or present, has any action or patent infringement involved the electronic management, algorithm, or deployment mechanism, or any other part employed within Alpinestars entirely unique and advanced Tech-Air® technology.

Furthermore this judgment is limited to the territory of Germany only. It has no bearing on any other territories within Europe or the wider world market where Tech-Air® is available throughout Alpinestars’ Dealer network.

Originally Dainese alleged infringements based on three patents in Germany, none of them refer to Tech-Air® technology: one complaint was withdrawn by Dainese on 22nd December 2016, relating to patent EP 2 373 188, after this patent was revoked by the European Patent Office. The remaining two patents have been contested in Germany. The second, EP 2 373 190, concerning only some specific features of the air bladder used in the Tech-Air® vest, was wholly annulled by the German Federal Patent Court on 15 May 2018. Dainese appealed this decision.

The third, EP 2 412 257 B1, concerning the general installation of an inflatable air bladder construction within a ‘pocket’ of a garment, featuring elastic panels, is the point on which the patent infringement claim was upheld last week. As soon as the Court serves the written judgment, Alpinestars will study the details prior to taking any decision on its next steps.

Alpinestars needs to point out that it has an appeal pending on the validity of this patent (EP 2 412 257 B1) within the German Federal Court of Justice.

As consistently stated throughout this legal process, Alpinestars fully respects and honors third parties’ intellectual property rights and expects the same with respect to its own IP rights. Alpinestars’ highly innovative Tech-Air® products are based upon years of its in house research and development conducted by its own team of leading research and development staff.

Since the very beginning of the Tech-Air® project, which commenced in 2001, the freedom to ride with the most advanced innovations of performance protection has been the objective relentlessly pursued by Alpinestars and the result is uniquely advanced and capable technology. Tech-Air® is the world’s first airbag providing full upper torso protection in a transferable vest which incorporates a completely independent electronic management system, with no reliance on any external devices (sensors or GPS), to give accident detection and full airbag inflation before the first impact, dual charge for the track and off-road capability as demonstrated in the 2019 Dakar Rally.

Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® products represent an enormously innovative contribution to increased rider safety in motorcycling.

Dainese Menangi Kes Saman Beg Udara Ke Atas Alpinestars Di Jerman

Ves D-Air rekaan Dainese – Sumber imej: Dainese

Sebuah mahkamah di Jerman telah memihak kepada Dainese dalam kes saman pencabulan paten menentang Alpinestars.
Mereka pada mulanya telah menyaman Alpinestars pada tahun 2015 kerana menggunakan sebahagian daripada ves D-Air Dainese dalam rekaan ves Tech-Air Alpinestars tanpa bayaran untuk paten berkenaan.
Mereka juga turut memfailkan litigasi di Itali, UK, dan Perancis.

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Dainese Wins Airbag Case Against Alpinestars in Germany

A court in Germany ruled in favour of Dainese in their airbag patent infringement suit against Alpinestars.
They first sued Alpinestars in 2015 for using a part of their D-air vest in the latter’s Tech-Air vest without payment for the patent.
They also filed litigations in Italy, UK and France.

The Munich Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Dainese in their airbag patent infringement suit against Alpinestars (A-stars).

The case had been going on since 2015. A German court found Alpinestars had infringed on the patent previously in 2017. A-Stars brought the case to the Munich Court of Appeals and they lost again. Their next and last course of action is to refer the case to the German Federal Supreme Court.

Dainese sued A-stars in 2015 after finding the latter had copied an essential part of the D-air vest. The part was then used in A-stars’ Tech-Air airbag vests, without payment to Dainese for licensing.

Alpinestars Tech-Air vest – Photo credit Alpinestars

A-stars could well be in deep trouble, pending the German Supreme Court appeal. Dainese did not only file litigations in Germany. They also sued A-stars in Italy, the United Kingdom and France. The litigation floodgates could swing open in those countries should they lose in the German Supreme Court.

The confusion started in 2015 when Dainese released the D-air technology as an open platform as a responsibility to rider safety. This meant that other riding gear manufacturers can use the technology in their own products. But that did not mean they shouldn’t pay Dainese to use the patented technology. Unfortunately, this was what A-stars did.

So, what happens now? If A-stars loses their last appeal, German riders may not be able to keep their Tech Air vests. There’s no word of the case in other countries, so far but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear of something.

Source: Motorcycle-USA

Alpinestars 55th anniversary custom bike

Alpinestars recently celebrated their 55^th anniversary last weekend with the Alpinestars 55^th anniversary custom bike.

The custom bike was built by Michael Wooloway of Woolies Workshop from California.

It is powered by a 1974 Ducati 750 Sport build race engine and other MotoGP-inspired components used by their greatest riders.

During the last MotoGP round that is the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas, Italian’s premium motorcycle clothing manufacturer Alpinestars celebrated their 55^th anniversary in the industry. How? By giving themselves a one-off custom bike as a gift! (more…)

MotoGP 2018: Tiada Sut Perlumbaan Berbeg Udara? Tidak Boleh Berlumba!

Musim 2018 MotoGP akan menyaksikan ke semua penunggang tetap memakai sut perlumbaan berbeg udara sekiranya mereka ingin bertanding di dalam kategori perlumbaannya.
Ke semua sut perlumbaan mestilah dilengkapi dengan sistem beg udara yang akan memberikan perlindungan pada bahagian bahu dan tulang selangka.
Ini adalah satu langkah yang baik memandangkan para pengeluar akan melabur dengan lebih lagi untuk sebuah sistem beg udara yang mana akan membuatkannya lebih tersedia untuk para pengguna.

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MotoGP 2018: No airbag racing suit? No race!

The MotoGP 2018 season will see all permanent riders wearing an airbag racing suit if they wish to compete in the race categories.

All racing suits must be fitted with an airbag system that will provide protection for the shoulders and collarbone.

This is a good move considering the manufacturers will invest more on airbag system which in turn will be made more available for consumers.

A very interesting update has just been confirmed by the folks over at MotoGP where beginning of the 2018 season, all riders must wear a racing suit equipped with airbag systems. The rule applies to each and every rider across all three categories (MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3) except for wildcard riders. (more…)

Cal Crutchlow Menerjah Masuk Majlis Makan Malam Randy Mamola!

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Cal Crutchlow Crashes Randy Mamola Dinner Party!

The Malaysian MotoGP is one of the busiest periods in the Bikes Republic calendar. There usually is a bunch of PR events, launch events, meet & greet events and exclusive dinners to attend. A busy period but also a good period as this is the time we meet all our heroes, and are sometimes given a chance to meet heroes from the past.

One of those exclusive dinners was hosted by Alpinestars, the maker of ultra-sophisticated leathers, gloves, shoes and other motorcycle riding gear that are all clinically designed to keep the rider safe in all situations.

The dinner took place at Sama-Sama Hotel the night before race day, and was attended by selected media, Alpinestars distributors from Malaysia and the region and staff of Alpinestars. The dinner was also attended by MotoGP legend Randy Mamola, who was well-known for his on and off track antics.

The American still has his electrifying personality; when Randy speaks, you automatically shut up and listen. He was there as the ambassador of Alpinestars, so he took centrestage and began to share his experiences on track and such.

Randy was about 10-minutes into his talk when suddenly the door opens and Cal Crutchlow walks in. The Brit is also known for his “no-holes-barred” conversation style as he always speaks his mind and does not hold back.

Seeing the two talk about modern races, technology, and Marc Marquez was indeed an honour, an honour we captured on our phone.

We hope you enjoy this video as much as we did being in the same room with these two legends. We did not capture the moment when Cal drops in, but here is how the rest of the conversation goes:

Alpinestars Tech-Air Memenangi Anugerah Inovasi Tertinggi CES Asia 2017

Alpinestars Tech-Air telah diberi kehormatan dengan anugerah dalam kategori ‘Wearables’ pada Anugerah Inovasi Asia di Pertunjukan Elektronik Pengguna (Consumer Electronics Show) pada tahun ini.
Pakar kelengkapan menunggang motosikal itu merupakan calon pendahulu untuk anugerah itu di Shanghai, China pada minggu lalu di mana mereka memenanginya untuk produk inovatif mereka.
Terdapat dua versi yang berbeza untuk sistem Tech-Air™ mereka itu; Tech-Air™ Street yang dikeluarkan pada tahun 2014 dan Tech-Air™ Race pada tahun 2016.

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Alpinestars Tech-Air wins 2017 CES Asia Top Innovation Award

Alpinestars Tech-Air has been honoured with an award for best ‘Wearables’ category in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show Asia Innovations Awards.

The motorcycle riding gear expert was the best nominee for the award in Shanghai, China last week where they came out on top for their innovative product.

There are two distinct versions of the Tech-Air™ systems; Tech-Air™ Street which was released back in 2014 and Tech-Air™ Race in 2016.

One of the pioneers of active airbag technology for motorcycle racing suits and safety gear has been awarded at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia Innovations Awards earlier this week. The award was given to Alpinestars in Shanghai, China for the best nominee in the ‘Wearable’ category for their Tech-Air™ active airbag system. (more…)

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Alpinestars

Alpinestars published their response to the Munich Court of Appeals’ case.

The court sided with Dainese in their ruling.

Alpinestars maintains that they did not infringe on Dainese’s patents.

Alpinestars’ Press Release

A court in Germany ruled in favour of Dainese in their airbag patent infringement suit against Alpinestars.

They first sued Alpinestars in 2015 for using a part of their D-air vest in the latter’s Tech-Air vest without payment for the patent.

They also filed litigations in Italy, UK and France.

Source: Motorcycle-USA

Alpinestars recently celebrated their 55th anniversary last weekend with the Alpinestars 55th anniversary custom bike.

The custom bike was built by Michael Wooloway of Woolies Workshop from California.

It is powered by a 1974 Ducati 750 Sport build race engine and other MotoGP-inspired components used by their greatest riders.

The MotoGP 2018 season will see all permanent riders wearing an airbag racing suit if they wish to compete in the race categories.

All racing suits must be fitted with an airbag system that will provide protection for the shoulders and collarbone.

This is a good move considering the manufacturers will invest more on airbag system which in turn will be made more available for consumers.

Alpinestars Tech-Air has been honoured with an award for best ‘Wearables’ category in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show Asia Innovations Awards.

The motorcycle riding gear expert was the best nominee for the award in Shanghai, China last week where they came out on top for their innovative product.

There are two distinct versions of the Tech-Air™ systems; Tech-Air™ Street which was released back in 2014 and Tech-Air™ Race in 2016.

The future of motorcycles and the motorcycling industry are slowly getting closer to a turning point which will lead to the next big thing in the two-wheeled universe.

From hybrid motorcycles to fully electric-powered bikes, the options of innovations are endless for motorcycle manufacturers.

The same can be said to the development of riding gears to ensure higher levels of safety and performance using the latest technologies.

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Alpinestars recently celebrated their 55^th anniversary last weekend with the Alpinestars 55^th anniversary custom bike.