- First Name
- Kendall
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2018
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 337
- Reaction score
- 526
- Location
- Santa Clarita, CA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 Rubicon
- Thread starter
- #1
Yes, I am very angry. For almost 15 years we have developed niche products for the Jeep Wrangler community. There's an unwritten rule born out of mutual respect and business integrity that US manufacturers just don't blatantly copy each others products. It's bad enough that this happens all too frequently with China-based companies, but it is relatively unheard of in US companies serving the 4WD communities.
Yet, this is exactly what H3R did to us. In 2009 we set out to bring a creative, robust, fire extinguisher bracket to market. Many of you purchased them and most of our sales we elected to package the bracket with an H3R mount. We had corresponded several times with H3R and the business was good for both of us. Many of you purchased our bracket with their mount - and often you chose one of their fire extinguishers.
Well, I guess it wasn't good enough for H3R who - instead of developing their own mount for the JL's elected instead just to blatantly copy our bracket and call it their own. Yes, they pre-drilled it to fit more of their mounts, but the bracket is otherwise identical - so much so that we have fielded several support emails from customers who believed that had purchased a package solution that incorporated our bracket.
The lack of business integrity demonstrated by H3R is simply astounding. Mind you, we had been very loyal to them and nearly exclusively promoted their mounts. The thanks that we get is that rather than invest and innovate - they took the low road to just copy our bracket and call it their own.
Now, don't go saying that we should have patented our design.... that's really not financially viable when you are talking about low-volume, niche (single-vehicle) solutions. All of us as manufacturers understand that - hence the unwritten rule. Competition through innovation and offering a superior product - I'm 100% for it. Profit by just duplicating someone else's efforts.... that's just slimy. Go to hell, H3R.
Yet, this is exactly what H3R did to us. In 2009 we set out to bring a creative, robust, fire extinguisher bracket to market. Many of you purchased them and most of our sales we elected to package the bracket with an H3R mount. We had corresponded several times with H3R and the business was good for both of us. Many of you purchased our bracket with their mount - and often you chose one of their fire extinguishers.
Well, I guess it wasn't good enough for H3R who - instead of developing their own mount for the JL's elected instead just to blatantly copy our bracket and call it their own. Yes, they pre-drilled it to fit more of their mounts, but the bracket is otherwise identical - so much so that we have fielded several support emails from customers who believed that had purchased a package solution that incorporated our bracket.
The lack of business integrity demonstrated by H3R is simply astounding. Mind you, we had been very loyal to them and nearly exclusively promoted their mounts. The thanks that we get is that rather than invest and innovate - they took the low road to just copy our bracket and call it their own.
Now, don't go saying that we should have patented our design.... that's really not financially viable when you are talking about low-volume, niche (single-vehicle) solutions. All of us as manufacturers understand that - hence the unwritten rule. Competition through innovation and offering a superior product - I'm 100% for it. Profit by just duplicating someone else's efforts.... that's just slimy. Go to hell, H3R.
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