Hon Lik needs to get proper recognition

[Giraut]

I'm perusing this thread, and reflecting on how discovering vaping changed my whole life for the better. And I'm thinking: Hon Lik is in a unique position of being almost singlehandedly responsible for saving millions of lives - and incidentally, poised to ruin some of the biggest mass murderers in human history, namely the tobacco industry. That's got to be worth something...

I say nominate the guy for a Nobel prize or something. I'm Mister Nobody, but if he's ever in a fix, I'll gladly send him money to help him myself.

 

[The Ocelot]

Absolutely! He is one of my heros.

 

[Hulamoon]

Plus one from me

 

[DoMortas]

Same here, i know he saved my life.

 

[Btsmokincat]

I read a recent interview with Hon Lik and he said this:

10 years later, your invention has been very successful in the West, especially in France and the USA. Why do you think it took so long?

I find it astonishing and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I was sure that the electronic cigarette would be welcomed with open arms and that in three years we would be able to put together the right manufacturing and distribution networks, I was naïve…

The tobacco industry saw me as a competitor to block, the health authorities were very suspicious and pharmaceutical groups were not interested. Everything is very different today.

“I hope that authorities like the FDA in the United States will continue to impose stricter and stricter standards so that the product will be as safe as possible” – Hon Lik

“I was sure that the electronic cigarette would be welcomed with open arms” - 18 octobre 2013 - Sciences et Avenir

I am grateful for his invention but I hope his feelings about the FDA don't come true.

 

[Nikkita6]

I read a recent interview with Hon Lik and he said this:

10 years later, your invention has been very successful in the West, especially in France and the USA. Why do you think it took so long?

I find it astonishing and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I was sure that the electronic cigarette would be welcomed with open arms and that in three years we would be able to put together the right manufacturing and distribution networks, I was naïve…

The tobacco industry saw me as a competitor to block, the health authorities were very suspicious and pharmaceutical groups were not interested. Everything is very different today.

“I hope that authorities like the FDA in the United States will continue to impose stricter and stricter standards so that the product will be as safe as possible” – Hon Lik

“I was sure that the electronic cigarette would be welcomed with open arms” - 18 octobre 2013 - Sciences et Avenir

I am grateful for his invention but I hope his feelings about the FDA don't come true.

I also felt my stomach turn when I first read his statements regarding the FDA ... I don't think he knows them very well.

But I am also grateful to Hon Lik, and I am also saddened that everyone but Hon Lik is profiting from his invention.

 

[crxess]

I am grateful for his invention but I hope his feelings about the FDA don't come true.

Much like the FDA misinterprets what we need and/or expect, you are misinterpreting Hon Lik.

His statement is directly to Quality and Reliability of the Product. Not the power to Remove it or Make it useless.

His statement is to individual success, not Corporate/government Financial gains.

 

[Btsmokincat]

Much like the FDA misinterprets what we need and/or expect, you are misinterpreting Hon Lik.

His statement is directly to Quality and Reliability of the Product. Not the power to Remove it or Make it useless.

His statement is to individual success, not Corporate/government Financial gains.

I know Hon Lik was speaking to the quality and safety of products. I also believe that the FDA may go far beyond what Hon Lik envisions. I just worry that some Antz or Fool congressman could take his statement out of context and say "Even the original inventor of the current e-cigs wants stricter FDA regulation". Hon Lik's ingenuity is a saving grace and his is a concern for the health and safety of all of us. It's obvious that that he cares.

 

[Ken_A]

Much like the FDA misinterprets what we need and/or expect, you are misinterpreting Hon Lik.

His statement is directly to Quality and Reliability of the Product. Not the power to Remove it or Make it useless.

His statement is to individual success, not Corporate/government Financial gains.

Thus showing that, indeed, he does not know much about the FDA.
To the FDA, stricter restrictions are about who can manufacture, not health or safety concerns.

and, really. Hon did not do very much more than the original inventor. Why not nominate Herbert Glibert for a Nobel prize?

 

[Submaniac]

I kind of have mixed feelings towards Hon Lik. I appreciate that he singlehandedly has contributed to saving thousands if not millions of lives. I respect him for that. However, don't forget that the electronic cigarette was actually developed in 1965 by Herbert Gilbert. I don't consider him as an "inventor" so much as the person who popularized the device. The problem I am having is that Hon Lik's company is now in heavy active litigation against other companies to prevent them from manufacturing electronic cigarettes.

This is Herbert Gilbert's original 1965 patent:
Patent US3200819 - Smokeless non-tobacco cigarette - Google Patents

This is Hon Lik's patent:
https://www.google.com/patents/US20...a=X&ei=_WmFU-ieHJOSqAaerYKgAg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA

Basically my problem is he patented something that had already been patented 50 years ago and was in the public domain. His company then started suing other companies to prevent them from making electronic cigarettes. Sorry, I just can't give "hero" status to that.

See Ruyan wikipedia entry: Ruyan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"In June 2012, Ruyan filed patent infringement lawsuits against six U.S. electronic cigarette manufacturers in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.^"

 

[Giraut]

I kind of have mixed feelings towards Hon Lik. I appreciate that he singlehandedly has contributed to saving thousands if not millions of lives. I respect him for that. However, don't forget that the electronic cigarette was actually developed in 1965 by Herbert Gilbert.[...]

Well, someone has to be praised I reckon. Herbert Gilbert may have come up with the idea, but he didn't do anything with the idea. A lot of people have died of tobacco-related diseases since 1965.

Many people who did not invent what made them rich and famous ended up getting all the glory. Edison, Marconi, Steve Jobs... Some of them were right money-grubbing SOBs too. That doesn't make them any less deserving, as they democratized something that changed the world for the better.

 

[Feignix]

Well, someone has to be praised I reckon. Herbert Gilbert may have come up with the idea, but he didn't do anything with the idea. A lot of people have died of tobacco-related diseases since 1965.

Many people who did not invent what made them rich and famous ended up getting all the glory. Edison, Marconi, Steve Jobs... Some of them were right money-grubbing SOBs too. That doesn't make them any less deserving, as they democratized something that changed the world for the better.

Oh, so in other words your saying Obama built the e-cigarette? Gotcha!

 

[Ken_A]

Let's not get catty.

To continue the discussion....
Herbert invented the original.
He was not a millionaire, so went to the industry leaders, who very cleverly shoved the idea under the table, saying that it would never be popular.
Herbert went back to his regular job and is now retired.

Hon either independently invented his device, or somehow got hold of Herbert's design. It was 50 years later, and the patent was expired.
Hon lives in a country that LOVES anything tech, so was able to get production going.
Then his company started seeing for infringement on the patent.

Hon was in the right place to get his invention produced. Herbert was not.

 

[WattWick]

Let's not get catty.

To continue the discussion....
Herbert invented the original.
He was not a millionaire, so went to the industry leaders, who very cleverly shoved the idea under the table, saying that it would never be popular.
Herbert went back to his regular job and is now retired.

Hon either independently invented his device, or somehow got hold of Herbert's design. It was 50 years later, and the patent was expired.
Hon lives in a country that LOVES anything tech, so was able to get production going.
Then his company started seeing for infringement on the patent.

Hon was in the right place to get his invention produced. Herbert was not.

And maybe just as important; in the right time. Imagine lugging around an e-cig with 1960s battery tech

Hats off to both of'em