Some thoughts.
Firstly, as
@Douggro points out above, it's totally out of line to call Evolv patent trolls. Whatever one thinks of the patent system generally, one has to agree that Evolv has acted entirely within the spirit of that system.
They have continuously made their product, sold their product, spent on R&D and brought out new versions. That's NOT patent trolling in any reasonable sense of the phrase.
A patent troll is, fundamentally, a person or organisation which buys up patents with no intention of making the claimed invention, but simply to extort money from those who do. This, to me, needs reforming - there should be a limitation on patents in cases where the owner does not make the claimed invention. But this certainly does not apply in any sense in Evolv's case.
Also, there's a tendency to cast Evolv as somehow malfeasant for patenting something which vapers think is "obvious" - i.e. Wattage control. But that's kinda the point in patents! It may seem obvious 5 years on, but in 2011 it certainly was not, and Evolv changed the way we vape.
Very soon after they started to produce their original DNA, their devices were being copied. Imagine that - you spend a good period of your life R&Ding a device, knowing that there's only a limited period for which you'll be able to profit from it, and some guy with access to cheap labor and components just rips you off.
And I note that there's a tendency to claim that Evolv are simply trying to rip off vapers by making sure that only their (more expensive) devices are sold. This is so disingenuous it's not true. The implication is that a 200watt device with all the bells and whistles is somehow necessary for smokers to stop smoking.
Reality check - this is a TINY proportion of the market. Absolutely minuscule - despite the high visibility of devices like this in the online world, I'd suggest that it's less than 1% of all vape consumers who buy 200 watt devices. It's a niche product within a niche. The idea that people
should be able to buy such niche products cheaply is a form of special pleading that simply doesn't apply to other products. Imagine - you want a massive 8K TV right, but you want to pay less for it. Well, you might be able to, in 2 or 3 years time - but right now the manufacturers are going to sell that for a premium to the "innovator" section of the market and make back their R&D and tooling. That's simply what Evolv wish to do, and I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to.
If 200 watts were needed for people to stop smoking, I might think differently, but it's not, so I don't. Evolv have a range of products they sell at a range of prices, and the DNA200 is their current premium. Next year it will be something else. I'd like that to continue, wouldn't everyone?
