And it begins......

tgs2401

Austin-based Yeti Coolers claims a competitor is attempting to cash in on its creations.

In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Austin, Yeti alleges Mammoth Coolers, a Missouri company, “has purposefully advertised, promoted, offered for sale, sold and distributed, and continues to advertise, promote, offer for sale, sell and distribute coolers and tumblers that infringe on Yeti’s rights.”

The suit, among other things, asks that the offending products be recalled and destroyed, and that consumers have their money refunded. Yeti is seeking monetary damages, as well.

Mammoth did not respond to a message from the American-Statesman seeking comment.

Yeti was founded in 2006 by brothers Roy Seiders and Ryan Seiders. Yeti was projecting 2015 revenue of $250 million, company officials told the American-Statesman last year.

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RODOLFO GONZALEZ

Brothers Roy, left, and Ryan Seiders co-founded the Yeti Coolers empire.

Yeti makes multiple claims in its lawsuit, alleging trade dress infringement, unfair competition, trade dress dilution and unjust enrichment.

Specifically, Yeti says Mammoth is selling products that look similar to its rugged, high-end Rambler tumblers and Roadie and Tundra coolers. Those products have proven especially popular, with Yeti reporting more than 400,000 Roadie coolers and 1 million Tundra coolers have been sold since the company got its start about a decade ago.

The Roadie was selling for $249.99 on Yeti’s website Friday, while the Tundra starts at $299.99 for a small size and goes as high as $1,399.99 for the largest model. Rambler tumblers retail for $29.99 and $39.99.

1move

I like Yeti but **** like this makes me mad. If you believe in your product and your consumer base why do you even need to worry about competition? 

Ozzie_Isaac

Awesome!  Mammoth coolers have a lifetime warranty!

I'm going to check them out.  If RTIC is allowed to keep selling then this case should be tossed.

yljkt

Rotomolded cooler wars continues...

DMW

My panties are in a wad.

Wolfpack

1move said:

I like Yeti but **** like this makes me mad. If you believe in your product and your consumer base why do you even need to worry about competition? 

Huh? Then why do we have patents? If you design and develop a new product, basically invent a new product segment, and someone comes along and copies your products why shouldn't you defend it? 

Eggcelsior

Wolfpack said:

1move said:

I like Yeti but **** like this makes me mad. If you believe in your product and your consumer base why do you even need to worry about competition? 

Huh? Then why do we have patents? If you design and develop a new product, basically invent a new product segment, and someone comes along and copies your products why shouldn't you defend it? 

Hahaha. Considering Yeti stole the idea to begin with and didn't invent anything, this case and everyone they file is hilarious.

Wolfpack

It sounds like I may not be aware of the whole story but, the patent office thought they had something original...

http://patents.justia.com/assignee/yeti-coolers-llc

They don't give patents away without some work- if anyone had prior art then it could invalidate. 

HeavyG

Wolfpack said:

It sounds like I may not be aware of the whole story but, the patent office thought they had something original...

http://patents.justia.com/assignee/yeti-coolers-llc

They don't give patents away without some work- if anyone had prior art then it could invalidate. 

Certain narrow aspects of some of Yeti's coolers have patents. The general idea of a rotomolded cooler was not invented by Yeti. There is nothing magical about Yeti coolers.

Yeti has a patent on a specific way that their rubber latches hook/close. Yeti did not invent rubber latches as they have been used in various ways on various things for decades.

A lot of patents are granted that never should have been. The US Patent Office has been understaffed for many years which limits how much time a patent examiner can really expend on a proper search of prior art.

As a result, patent trolls have become a serious and expensive problem in recent years. It is not cheap or easy to try and get a patent overturned. Many companies just settle and pay licensing fees rather than trying to fight what may well be widely regarded as a frivolous patent.

Some companies do fight back - Newegg has a reputation for fighting and beating patent trolls.

Yeti may well be in the right in some of their suits. They may well be just trying to intimidate competition in some of their suits. Beats me.

YukonRon

I bought a Yeti 65, based on a recommendation from the experience of my peers, a few years ago. I have not been unhappy with the performance. It was, what I thought to be a special, one time, purchase at Sam's for around $275.00. I had not done a ton of research on the purchase prior, and at the time was unaware of existing alternatives. Since then several more brands have evolved, all with enticing price points, should I be in the market for another. I will say this, I had my Yeti next to an Rtic, same size, could not see an advantage either way. Nice to know there are options available, going forward, should I need to invest further in another cooler.

1move

Wolfpack said:

1move said:

I like Yeti but **** like this makes me mad. If you believe in your product and your consumer base why do you even need to worry about competition? 

Huh? Then why do we have patents? If you design and develop a new product, basically invent a new product segment, and someone comes along and copies your products why shouldn't you defend it? 

Yeti essentially patented a bunch of generic things which can be altered and voilà you have a similar cooler. Yeti sues often and does it to smaller companies that don't have nearly as much market share or money as Yeti, hence why most companies go under because of funding to protect their own design. 

Yeti copied another companies idea and then decided to patent it themselves so they can go around suing people

Chubbs

I am not affiliated with yeti or any other cooler company. But I am in the legal business and have vision to any lawsuit in US. What's amazing is how many people speak their mind on these cases without any knowledge of the cases. Yeti certainly does have intellectual property to protect and any of us would do the same if in their position. Especially the RTIC case. I will be buying a RTIC cooler soon, but if I were Yeti and one of my developers left to form a company with my same exact cooler specs I would be doing the same thing they are. I think we all would. 

HeavyG

Chubbs said:

I am not affiliated with yeti or any other cooler company. But I am in the legal business and have vision to any lawsuit in US. What's amazing is how many people speak their mind on these cases without any knowledge of the cases. Yeti certainly does have intellectual property to protect and any of us would do the same if in their position. Especially the RTIC case. I will be buying a RTIC cooler soon, but if I were Yeti and one of my developers left to form a company with my same exact cooler specs I would be doing the same thing they are. I think we all would. 

RTIC has the "exact same specs"?

Funny, an RTIC 45 actually gives you 45 quarts  of volume. A Yeti 45? Not even close (37 quarts).

An RTIC 65 actually gives you 65 quarts of volume. A Yeti 65? Not even close (57 quarts).

Wouldn't it be funny if actual Yeti owners were to file a class action suit against Yeti for false advertising?

A Yeti 65 does not actually have 65 quarts of volume.  Etc., etc.

Of course Yeti doesn't really explicitly state that their Yeti 65 provides 65 quarts of volume. They're content to keep allowing their customers to just assume the model number equates to quart capacity.

However, I guess they do give themselves some legal protection in their fine print:

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WHAT SIZE COOLER SHOULD I BUY?

Please see our dimension chart for measurements and capacity. The Tundra series matches closely (usually within an inch) of many popular sized marine coolers that have been on the market for years. However, the quart size of the YETI cooler will be a bit lower due to the thickness of the walls and amount of insulation. 

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Chubbs

@HeavyG you know what I mean. Not identical but enough to cause a **** storm especially when boasting "same product for half the price". Virtually same product with different business model-- cutting out middle man thus able to charge less. 

Chubbs

So yeah he saw a flaw and took advantage of it with his new company. 

Zippylip

Yeti is pissed because they got out ahead of this thing (way, way, way overcharging for a box that slows the melting of ice) much in the same way BGE got out ahead of their thing (way, way, way overcharging for blobs of enhanced clay that slows the burning of fuel).  Then, as always happens in a free market, someone else had a Vision to sell the same thing for less money & that big wet bite they take out of the leader’s ass always hurts.

Chubbs

Zippylip said:

Yeti is pissed because they got out ahead of this thing (way, way, way overcharging for a box that slows the melting of ice) much in the same way BGE got out ahead of their thing (way, way, way overcharging for blobs of enhanced clay that slows the burning of fuel).  Then, as always happens in a free market, someone else had a Vision to sell the same thing for less money & that big wet bite they take out of the leader’s ass always hurts.

Only the person that had the vision was a developer of yeti who left. That's the issue and why yeti is all in on fighting it. 

DMW

Zippylip said:

Yeti is pissed because they got out ahead of this thing (way, way, way overcharging for a box that slows the melting of ice) much in the same way BGE got out ahead of their thing (way, way, way overcharging for blobs of enhanced clay that slows the burning of fuel).  Then, as always happens in a free market, someone else had a Vision to sell the same thing for less money & that big wet bite they take out of the leader’s ass always hurts.

I see what you did there.

Zippylip

Chubbs said:

Zippylip said:

Yeti is pissed because they got out ahead of this thing (way, way, way overcharging for a box that slows the melting of ice) much in the same way BGE got out ahead of their thing (way, way, way overcharging for blobs of enhanced clay that slows the burning of fuel).  Then, as always happens in a free market, someone else had a Vision to sell the same thing for less money & that big wet bite they take out of the leader’s ass always hurts.

Only the person that had the vision was a developer of yeti who left. That's the issue and why yeti is all in on fighting it. 

So what, happens every day.  Non-compete & other intellectual property legalities aside, Yeti will simply never stem the tide of cheaper equally  effective alternatives from taking market share particularly when they start rolling in from China if they haven't already. 

HeavyG

Chubbs said:

@HeavyG you know what I mean. Not identical but enough to cause a **** storm especially when boasting "same product for half the price". Virtually same product with different business model-- cutting out middle man thus able to charge less. 

C'mon. Aren't almost all hard sided coolers virtually the same product? Insulated vessels intended to lessen heat flow - mostly cube or cuboid in shape?

Has there been any really innovative developments in cooler technology in the last few decades?

Aren't they all reliant on the same principles of physics?

It does appear that RTIC went the extra mile to create a product that is visually very similar to the Yeti. I thinks its pretty funny they gave Yeti that "poke in the eye".

Visual similarity is the norm in many industries. I mean if you park an Accord next to a Camry most people couldn't tell them apart.