The SMOKtech AC9 Controversy - TUNE IN TUESDAY

[victimdies]

For those you you following the controversy surrounding the SMOKtech AC9 clone, Ken and myself will be speaking on this Tuesday with Russ from Clickbang Radio at 9pm. Invites will be send out to both RipTrippers and Brent to speak on this. If either of you two are reading this, please except the invitation to have your voice heard. I am not posting this to start a debate on what is right or wrong so please do not clog up the thread with vulgarity and/or bashing on one side or the other. I understand this is a sensitive subject, please be respectful.

Is there anything specific the community would like us to address?

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to Assorted PV Topics - Rebuildable Atomizer Systems

 

[KillTheNoise]

Drama...yummy!

Wonder what this is all about.

 

[Thrasher]

Drama...yummy!

Wonder what this is all about.

smok is making an AC9 copy, whats his name is going ballistic over the coops. and throwing a hissy that china (a country with zero IP rights) is making something similar and threatening lawsuits and such to the people in said co-ops. in essence if they cant punish smok maybe they can make life miserable for the people tired of waiting on the real thing. (sorry if that came out insulting just the way i see it)

 

[KillTheNoise]

Good luck to the original maker...although copies do offer a lesser price for a similar product (which I think introduces more people into whatever subject is being copied) it's a s....y thing to do.

I wouldn't have gotten into RBAs if it wasn't for the AGA-T2 though, so I guess I'm part of the problem.

/shrug

 

[Rule62]

The same thing is being done with Cobra clones. I saw one today at a meet up, in fact. I don't know the Chinese manufacturer, but the clones are being sold in a cardboard box, with the word "Cobra", and a picture of the snake, on the box. However, this is where the similarity ends. The device itself looks nothing like a Cobra.

 

[Thrasher]

I would like to know what up with all the delays with the real one and why its taking so long to bring them to market. serious question

no matter how many smok makes if he would just make the dang attys already selling out isnt a problem, just ask zen.

 

[matcas]

Well come on not everyone can afford a 139.00 tank if if you could why pay that much? Seriously that's way to much for a tank you may or may not like.

 

[j4mmin42]

I would like to hear someone just ask Rip directly..."Why did you choose to go after the people runing co-ops, not manufacturers or vendors- just regular vapers who are interested in supporting their community?"

If Rip had taken ANY other legal approach other than to harass co-op organizers, I wouldn't even have been paying attention to this drivel.

 

[Railrust]

I bought a real one and would have bought a real one anyway dont care if there was clones or not. Real ones will be made better.

 

[Rule62]

Well come on not everyone can afford a 139.00 tank if if you could why pay that much? Seriously that's way to much for a tank you may or may not like.

Very true. High end RBAs are collector items, partially due to price; and partially due to scarcity, whether the scarcity is deliberate, or not. Zens, AC9s, Bliss, Foggattis etc., sell out in minutes. Meanwhile, the Chinese units can be made to perform equally well, in the hands of a competent wick/coil builder. The same ss mesh and kanthal wire goes into a $15 RBA as a $150 one. But the Chinese units give prospective new builders the chance to become proficient; and those that do become proficient may or may not join the ranks of those who are F-5ing high end suppliers websites, eventually, for anticipated limited releases.

 

[Thrasher]

join the ranks of those who are F-5ing high end suppliers websites

i lol'd my f5 key has worn out printing.

 

[Trick]

I bought a real one and would have bought a real one anyway dont care if there was clones or not. Real ones will be made better.

That's what gets me about most of this stuff. I mean, honestly, how many people buy a clone from a co-op and think "this cheap thing I just got from China is just as good as the real thing!" Doesn't happen. People know they're buying cheap knockoffs. And I confess, I have a few. But if I'm interested in the real thing, I buy the real thing. Co-op buyers aren't as stupid as some people seem to think they are.

And I just don't see legal action going very far. A co-op manager is just another buyer with a spreadsheet. He's not making a dime on the deal, and as far as I know it's not illegal to buy clones, even ones with misleading names and lookalike packaging.

 

[Rule62]

I would like to hear someone just ask Rip directly..."Why did you choose to go after the people runing co-ops, not manufacturers or vendors- just regular vapers who are interested in supporting their community?"

If Rip had taken ANY other legal approach other than to harass co-op organizers, I wouldn't even have been paying attention to this drivel.

Absolutely right. We were talking about that today, at a local meet up. Rip apparently decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the Chinese manufacturer, so he decided to go after the co op organizers.

 

[lightbud404]

this should be good
/.subscribed

 

[MikeA5]

The manufacturer should Trade Mark the name AC9 and get a Patent for the AC9 design if they don't want the name to be used or the device to cloned. If they don't they risk the name and the design to be cloned. I suspect the design will not be Patentable since many Genesis atomizers are very close in design. The quality of materials and machining is what (IMO) seperates many USA made Genesis atomizers from those made in China.

 

[Rule62]

That's what gets me about most of this stuff. I mean, honestly, how many people buy a clone from a co-op and think "this cheap thing I just got from China is just as good as the real thing!" Doesn't happen. People know they're buying cheap knockoffs. And I confess, I have a few. But if I'm interested in the real thing, I buy the real thing. Co-op buyers aren't as stupid as some people seem to think they are.

And I just don't see legal action going very far. A co-op manager is just another buyer with a spreadsheet. He's not making a dime on the deal, and as far as I know it's not illegal to buy clones, even ones with misleading names and lookalike packaging.

Selling clones, or knock offs, in the U.S. anyway, isn't illegal, as long as the item isn't being falsely represented as the real thing. The AC9 clones aren't being sold as "real" AC9s. No claim has been made by anybody that they're real.

 

[Thrasher]

Selling clones, or knock offs, in the U.S. anyway, isn't illegal, as long as the item isn't being falsely represented as the real thing. The AC9 clones aren't being sold as "real" AC9s. No claim has been made by anybody that they're real.

and now all he did was bring more attention to them, i didnt even know they existed until this started.
and yea about copies and clones....... ask apple how that fights going.

 

[Rule62]

Last night's AC9 release sold out in less than 8 minutes. Many people who wanted one, didn't get one. It seems kinda silly to whine about Chinese knock offs killing your business, when you don't have product to deliver.

 

[CountSmackula]

Clones work for me. I CAN NOT afford, nor can I justify spending $100+ on an RBA. I enjoy watching Scott, Todd, and others review them, but for the life of me, can't understand how they afford all that expensive kit.